Coral Typhoon
by Sylvia-Nightshade
Summary: Three girls. One boy. The girl who survived a tsunami. The unnaturally lucky girl who once fell off a cliff and sustained only a few scratches and bruises. The boy who can bend the odds of a competition to his favour. The girl who now lives in the world of her favourite book series. All with one goal; to stop an immensely powerful being from joining a primordial's cause...
1. I take a glowing dagger to school - C

**AN: Hi! Just some notices before the story starts (feel free to just start reading the story without reading this).**

 **Later on, I will probably be doing guess the parent* (for the main characters), so comment if you think you know who it is! After the characters get claimed, I will also reveal what the names of the characters mean. I hope you like it!**

 **Before I start the actual story, I just want to explain something: I know that the chapters from Coral's PoV aren't very funny, but I'm doing this on purpose - the reason being that Coral is quite a serious character, and making funny comments about her situation would be OOC for her. In 'The Blood of Olympus', Nico and Reyna's chapters weren't that funny either. The proper 'funniness' starts in Chapter 3.** **Also, I'm sorry if this chapter is a bit too long. The next ones will be shorter, I promise.**

 **PS. The letters on the chapter names are the first letters of the names of the narrators. C is for Coral, the others will be revealed at the start of their chapters.**

 **Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I do not own PJO or HoO. I _do_ own the plot, Coral, Willow, and my OCs in other chapters.**

 ***If you just want to find out the godly parents of the characters, and everything about them without waiting, check my profile page - I have biographies of the different characters on there. However, I don't advise this. There are MAJOR spoilers there which might ruin some moments in the plot.**

* * *

 **I. I take a glowing dagger to school**

 _Coral_

You can ask me any question about my life so far. As long as it's not about my family.

My name? Coral Typhoon. My age? 15. The day I ran away from home because of a tsunami? I can't really remember - I don't want to. I was only ten when that happened, when my life changed forever.

I can still remember the day of the tsunami, five years ago; the bed I slept in, not knowing that it was the last time I would ever sleep there; my dreams that night - a woman, standing in ruins that looked a vaguely like they were once a castle, but a castle completely submerged. A woman who had strange hair which floated in the water that seemed to look almost like the tentacles of a jellyfish. I could hear her speak, almost telepathically; _Go. Leave. It is coming. You are not safe here any longer. You must leave now!_ I didn't realise what those dreams meant that night, until it was already too late. I remember slowly waking up to the sound of something a little like thunder, except lower and much, much louder. I still regret not waking faster, not taking into account what my dream meant earlier, not giving myself time to warn my family - well, my dad. I never knew my mum. She left me when I was very small, or at least that's what I was told. I still remember looking up onto dark, cold water, far away at first, but getting closer so fast that soon it was right on top of me; attempting to run, but my legs not working; trying to scream instead, but getting a mouthful of water. I can still remember trying to breathe, but failing, and blacking out; waking up after somehow surviving the tsunami, but seeing nothing around me, except the ruins of my house. I thought I heard the same voice in my dream, saying, I warned you. I might have imagined it.

'Well, it looks like someone has forgotten how to sit.' A girl's voice jolted me out of my memories. I felt my back hurting, and found myself on the floor, next to a chair I was sitting in a moment ago. The girl who had just spoken had mid-length blonde hair with blue highlights and murky green eyes.

'Stop it,' I said.

'Stop what?' Said another, with curly brown hair and blue eyes, in a fake sweet voice.

'Don't play nice with me,' I mumbled, annoyed.

'Sorry, what was that?' The girl said. Ever since my best friend Willow had accidentally splashed permanent salmon-pink paint on my hair in art, Chloe, Melissa and Emma had been teasing me about 'dyeing' my hair pink. As if I'd ever even wanted to have my hair painted. It wasn't even properly pink. And if that wasn't enough, they laughed whenever I got lost in the memories of my past, when they didn't even know what had happened to me.

Just then, a teacher turned and looked in our direction. The three girls looked at me with hatred. 'We will get you, Coral Typhoon,' the third, who hadn't spoken yet, whispered. 'You cannot hide forever...' There was something strange about the way she said it. It's not like I was surprised by the words - it's not that I expected them to be nice - but the way the girl said it... this time, she said it like she actually meant it, like she was going to do something much worse than tripping me up when I was walking to the front of the class. I headed towards my next lesson.

Maybe I should explain myself going to school, as I ran away from my home. For five years, I had just moved around. I was running nearly all the time, not to a particular location, just away - away from all the strange things, away from my memories. Once I saw a giant blue humanoid-like shape. After that, I could swear I had seen a woman with hair on fire with strange legs. Another time, I saw a faint outline of someone looking not quite solid who had shadowy black wings, and after that... Well, you get the point. Strange things come to me.

One day, when I thought I had seen somebody with one eye, I stumbled into a male teacher. After asking if I was ok, he asked me if I went to school, since it was in the middle of a school day and I was on the road, and I said no. He said that I had to go, and that I could go here, and since it was a state school, there would be no fees (I told the teacher I didn't have any parents). So I started.

'Hey, Coral,' someone said. I turned and saw my friend Willow running towards me, her long brown hair flying behind her, carrying a large potted willow tree in a pot, the way she always does. It was really getting big. Don't ask why she carries it - I have no idea. 'You ok?'

'I'm fine, I guess,' I replied. She must have seen my expression, because she asked, 'Are Chloe and the others giving you trouble again?' Willow looked towards the three girls, now laughing. I nodded.

'I'm sorry about that.' Willow said.

'It's fine,' I told her. Until two weeks ago, they had usually picked on Willow and ignored me. Last Monday, just after she had splashed the paint on me, Chloe had teased Willow about being clumsy. That was my breaking point. I went up to her and said, 'It's not her fault she did that. You keep being mean to her, again and again. Stop it!'

'Why should I?' Chloe had asked.

'Oh look, it's the girl with pink hair,' Melissa had said, half to me and half to the other girls. 'Ugh, your hair is, like, so totally lame!'

I wanted to shout that I didn't even care what I looked like, but her look told me that if I kept talking bad things would happen - like my pencil case going missing and appearing in the bin two weeks later. It's happened before. I stayed quiet.

Emma had said nothing, but there was mean laughter in her eyes. From that day on, they had started picking on me instead of Willow, especially since the paint was still in my hair now.

'It's not your fault.'

'I wish,'

'Look, you might be the one that they originally teased, but not anymore. It's _my_ fight now.' I told Willow. I hoped it would cheer her up, but instead it made her even sadder. I changed the subject.

'So, um, how's your willow tree?'

'About as good as me.'

'Oh... How old is it?'

'15, like me. It stared growing when I was born.'

'So is it like a birthday present or something?'

'Kind of.'

'Is that why you carry it around all the time?'

'Partly.'

'What are the other reasons?' I asked.

'You'll find out later.' Willow told me. Then she mumbled under her breath something that sounded like 'If you don't die first,' but I was sure I had misheard her. Why would I die so soon? I wondered whether it had to do with the strange creatures I kept seeing, but I pushed that thought to the back of my mind. They probably were hallucinations, or my brain tricking me. I did have dyslexia and ADHD, after all. But still...

I left it. There was no point in worrying about something that wasn't going to happen. Willow must have sensed my worry, because she said, 'Hey, it's fine, ok? Don't worry about the other reasons.'

Willow looked pretty worried to me, but I decided not to bring that up.

* * *

'And remember, all students must remember their sports kit tomorrow,' my PE teacher, Mrs Takimos, said. It was the end of our double sports lesson, and I (like pretty much everybody else) was out of breath. 'Tomorrow is sports day. I would appreciate it if certain people - ' she looked pointedly at me, '- would bother to show up at this event.' Ok, long story short - last winter, I hadn't shown up at some tournament thing. Everybody thought I was lying when I said that a man I met on the way had two heads had tried to attack me, but I wasn't. Well, I think that had happened. It could have been my eyes playing tricks on me, but it had seemed so... well, real. At any rate, no-one believed me, and I got into trouble, since everyone knew I didn't want to go anyway.

Just then, the school bell rang, signalling the end of the school day. I walked to the school gates, ignoring Chloe, Melissa and Emma sneering at me behind my back, but heard someone shouting my name. I turned to see Willow running after me. I waited, but not for long, since she was running and caught up to me quickly. 'Coral?' She asked, 'Would you mind if I walked home with you?'

'Um, sure, but I'm warning you, it's not a proper house. Mine got destroyed by a tsunami, with my... my family still inside...' The memory of it almost made me cry. 'There's this underground place I found that for some reasons has weapons in it, but it's a good temporary home.'

'Oh, Coral... I'm sorry about your house and family... my gods, I didn't know.'

 _My gods?_ 'It's fine,' I mumbled, even though I still felt really, really sad. It was the first time I had told anyone about the tsunami. 'Just... please can we not talk about it?'

We walked in silence for a few minutes. Suddenly Willow tensed.

'Willow, what- '

'Shh' She looked around, seemed to have spotted something, and pulled me behind a wall. I couldn't see what was going on, but I thought I heard a reptilian voice saying something - no, three reptilian voices. I couldn't make out the words exactly, but it sounded like one of the voices saying something like, 'Do not get impatient. We need to wait for the right moment to ssssstrike, when that- ' The voice paused, and I could see the thing's shadow's head looking around, '- that _ssssstupid_ dryad isssss not with her.' Dryad? I wondered if I'd heard correctly, or who they were talking about. I looked at Willow, but she just shook her head. She looked a bit embarrassed, but only for a bit, so I figured it was just my imagination.

'You'd better make it that time me sssssoon, otherwissse we will do it without you.' Said another voice.

'Yessss, quickly. I want to kill thisssss demigod.' Said the third voice. Then I heard the sounds of something slithering away.

'What about demigods and dryads?' I asked Willow. 'Who are they talking about?' Willow didn't reply. Her face was white with shock. I was pretty shaken up too. I couldn't let go of the fact that the voices sounded vaguely familiar to me, although I couldn't quite place them. I remembered Willow muttering something about me not dying before I found out about her tree, and wondered if they were talking about me. But... demigod? Dryad? What were they talking about?

Willow still looked pale, but she managed too say, 'To your underground place. Now.' I was confused, but I didn't object. If it had anything to do with those reptilian things, I wanted to find out about them. I led her to it.

When we went in, the first thing that Willow looked at was the collection of weapons, which I found weird because Willow had made it clear that she didn't like fighting. Instead of moving away, she ran her hands over them, carefully, and asked me, 'Where did you even get these?'

'I told you, I don't know. They were just here,' I replied.

'This is... this is Celestial Bronze, Coral.'

'Celestial what?'

'Celestial Bronze. It can kill mons- never mind.'

'Wait. What do you mean? You were going to say monsters, weren't you. Explain.'

Willow's cheeks flushed. 'I'm not supposed to tell you. The more you know, more things will try to- I just can't tell you, even if I want to, ok? Sorry. Just... just bring one of those weapons with you to sports day tomorrow.'

'Are you crazy?!' I exclaimed. 'Everyone will notice! Why would I bring one of these -' I gestured at the weird collection of bronze swords, daggers and arrows '- to school?'

Willow turned away and murmured somethingabout mist. Ok, I might have been a bit mean towards Willow, but I was confused. Willow always acts like a normal person, and suddenly she tells me that she knows about monsters (whatever she meant) and weapons and stuff. And, after she reveals that she knows about those, she doesn't tell me things that might help me survive. What person does that, even if it is to help you?

That night, I had a bad dream. A voice, from somewhere below the earth, laughed. It sounded like it was echoing off stone walls, but not from one place - it seemed like it was echoing everywhere, or... it was coming from everywhere.

Then my dream changed. My dream-self was standing underwater. The sea floor was littered with the remains of something that had once been a gigantic building - or buildings, I couldn't be sure. The ruins seemed to glow a little in the dark sea around them.

I saw a vague figure of a woman standing not far from me. There was a small amount of light around her. Then I realised that the light was coming from her; her skin was glowing, like the ruins. The woman turned to face me. I was sure that I'd seen her somewhere before, but I couldn't remember when or how. Her bright eyes met mine.

'You have done well so far, Coral Typhoon.' The woman said, but I got the feeling that by _doing well_ she meant something more like _still being alive_. 'However, if you are going to survive what awaits you, you must learn to control and use your powers.'

I was intimidated, but I managed to say, 'What powers?'

The glowing woman looked at me, as if I already knew. 'For now, all you need to know is to trust your instincts. Your friend... what's her name again?'

'Willow.'

'Yes, her. Follow her advice. She knows what she's doing.'

'So you mean I should take a weapon to school.' I muttered.

'I know her plan seems crazy, but don't forget that crazy can sometimes be good. She knows about people like you.'

'People like me? What - what do you mean?' I asked. However, the woman's voice was already getting fainter.

'Just remember to...' she called, but my dream rippled and changed again before she could finish her sentence.

Then my dream changed.

A storm was raging, and I was standing right in the centre of it. Lightning flashed, and strong winds pushed me around like a raft in fifteen-metre high waves. I could almost feel the energy around me buzzing through me, like the aftermath of an electric shock. Through the sheets of pouring rain, I could make out the outline of three girls and one boy. Three of the people were buffeted, like me, by the wind, just a small leaf in that howling storm, but the third girl seemed unaffected, though it was clear that the lighting and the rain still bothered her. They were running towards me, trying to push through the hail and shouting something, but I couldn't quite make it out. I tried to wave to them, to go to them, to let them know any way I could that I was there, but I was frozen where I stood. What were they saying? I managed to make out one word - quest. Then my dream went black.

'Coral!' Said a voice.

I opened my eyes and sat bolt upright, only to hit my head on something.

'Ow! Coral, it's two in the morning. I've been trying to get you up for hours! Are you okay?'

'I... I guess I dozed off. Sorry.' I said, and got up.

'Coral! For eight hours?!'

I stood up and scowled when I looked at Willow again, because she was still holding a bronze knife.

'You're not seriously still thinking about me taking a weapon to school, are you?'

Willow looked at me sternly. I sighed, but I remembered the woman's warning - to follow Willow's advice. Still, I didn't like her idea.

'Willow, even if I did bring it with me, we have to get on a train to go to the sports fields, and the metal detectors would go off. And that's only if everyone is blind and doesn't see the huge knife hanging off my belt,' I complained. She took a deep breath.

'Coral,' Willow tugged nervously at one of her long, wispy strands of hair, 'I promise I'll explain everything. All the arrangements have been made, and soon we'll be safe. Just trust me. You need some sort of weapon. Otherwise we might never be safe.' Willow didn't say what we were both thinking - that by never be safe she meant die. I stared at her, but there was something in her voice that convinced me she wasn't lying. She was telling the truth. Or at least what she believed was the truth.

'Fine.' I reluctantly took the dagger from Willows hand. It was light, and Willow gave me a sheath.'Strap this to your right trainer.' she instructed. I did so and slipped the dagger in. Willow looked at it doubtfully. 'A little small, but hopefully enough,' Willow lay down and the exit before I had a chance to ask her a question that had been nagging me since she first wanted me to take one of the weapons. Enough... but for what?

I drifted off to sleep again, and this time I had no dreams.

* * *

The next day, Wednesday, was Sports Day, just like Mrs Takimos had said. I had assumed that Willow had stayed the night, - the underground hideout/home was easily big enough for three people, even with a willow tree taking up a quarter of the space - but it was still a bit of a surprise when I woke up just next to her, rubbing her eyes but already in her sports clothes.

'Hi, Coral,' she said wearily.

'What time is it?' I asked her. Willow checked a watch.

'Two past seven.' She replied. 'Did you remember the knife?'

I groaned. I was planning to forget on purpose, but now she's asked, so I couldn't do that. 'Yes.' I mumbled.

'Good,' said Willow. 'Is there any breakfast?'

'Not really. Well, if you're desperate, there's this brownie-like thing, and this apple juice-like thing, but I've never tried them.'

'No!' Willow exclaimed, a little bit too quickly. Then she paused and regained her composure. 'Actually, thinking about it... maybe you should take those to school as well.'

'Are you crazy?' I exclaimed, but, again, I remembered the woman's warning. Also, Willow had this way of asking me to do things which I just can't say no to. I put them in my school bag.

Somehow, nobody noticed the dagger strapped to my right trainer. That was the good part. The bad part was that it kept making me trip over. Since no one else noticed it, everyone kept staring at me.

'Why are you tripping over like that?' Somebody asked me. I ignored them and kept walking.

'You'll never be able to run in the races like that.' Another person noted.

'I'm not doing the races,' I grumbled. 'I'm only doing the javelin throw.' I turned away.

Even Mrs Takimos noticed it. 'Coral, you need to stop stumbling like that.' She looked at me. 'Are you all right?'

My face felt hot. 'I'm fine.' I muttered.

'Are you sure? I'm worried about you.'

 _You're worried about the school's reputation,_ I thought, but I said, 'Yeah, I'm sure.'

The only person who didn't seem any different was Willow. I guess that made sense, since Willow was the one who told me to take the dagger to school in the first place.

'How come nobody else notices the-' I stopped myself and checked if anyone was listening. '-The dagger?' I continued.

Willow looked at me sheepishly. 'I already told you. I can't say.' She said in a small voice.

Melissa, Chloe and Emma also seemed different, but not in the way I expected. Instead of teasing me about falling over all the time, they kept shooting venomous looks towards my shoe as if they actually realised the dagger was there. Emma fixed me with a cold stare. I looked towards them, hoping to get Willow's attention, but she didn't seem to notice that anything was wrong.

'What are you looking at?' She asked me. I started to reply, 'Well-,' I nodded towards the direction where the three girls were standing, but they seemed to have disappeared. '-oh.'

'There's... nothing there, Coral. Are you feeling alright?'

'I- Sorry, I just thought I saw Chloe, Melissa and Emma acting strangely over there, but... never mind. They're gone.'

Willow seemed to tense. 'Maybe You should be careful from now on. If something like that happens again, let me know.'

I looked back. Sure enough, there was nobody there, but I couldn't shake the feeling of unseen eyes.

* * *

During the races, I sat next to Willow. She was doing the 200 meters, and she asked me hold her tree, but other than that we were both spectating. Willow seemed to know what she was doing - plus after the paint incident I tended to go with her a lot, since nobody else really stopped to talk to me much - so I tried to stay near her as much as possible.

I don't know when I noticed that something was wrong.

Maybe it was when Willow didn't return from her race. Usually that would've been fine, since Willow is late for a lot of things, but it just so happened that Emma was in the race, too, and she hadn't returned either. Everyone else had come back, but not those two. Worse, Chloe and Melissa seemed to have gone, too, even though they weren't racing. So, even though I knew I wasn't supposed to, I tiptoed down the stands, Willow's tree forgotten.

I caught sight of Melissa and Chloe a few steps below me. They seemed to be heading to a little room below the stands, which I never would've noticed if not for them. I got some glances from other students, but the teachers were looking at the events, so they didn't notice me. They didn't even notice that Willow hadn't returned. Nevertheless, I didn't want to attract any unnecessary attention, so I stayed as quiet as I could.

Below me, Chloe and Melissa didn't seem to care. When anyone, teacher or otherwise, looked at them, they just glared back at them. As they got closer to the hidden room, they got faster, so I did too - until I heard a voice.

'-doesn't know anything about demigods and monsters, I promise!'

Willow's voice.

The same, hissing voice I had heard last night replied, 'Then how come she hassss Celessssstial Bronzssse to defeat usssss?'

'I promise, she doesn't kno-'

'Anssssswer usssss, dryad, otherwisssse the demigod will die.'

There it was again. _Demigod. Dryad. Celestial Bronze._ I couldn't help myself. I risked a look. Willow was standing in the middle of the room, in front of Melissa and Chloe, and a... thing. There was no other word to explain it. It looked like the shadow Willow and I had seen the other day, except it was real. And it was standing right in front of me.

Luckily, the creature didn't notice me - its attention was focused entirely on Willow. But Willow did. She turned her head around to me, and there was an expression of relief on her face. Unfortunately, this made the creature look right where I was. I darted behind the door just in time.

'What are you looking at?' Hissed the creature.

I didn't want to attract any unnecessary attention, so I stayed as quiet as I could.

'Umm... nothing?' Willow's lie was unconvincing. The creature didn't believe her.

'I sssssmell demigod,' said the thing. 'Ssssshe isssss near.' It looked around the room, and when it saw nothing, it went towards the door - to me. It got closer, went out of the door... and stared me straight in the face. And, as scared as I was, I couldn't help remembering that there were three shadows.

'There ssssshe issssss!' Said the creature. Now that it was up close, I could see it more clearly. It was... like a snake, but human. Its skin was greenish, and instead of a one snake tail, it had two of them.

Then it dragged me inside.

'Coral? Why did you come?' Asked Willow. 'I mean, it's really nice of you, and thank you, but -you're going to get yourself killed.'

I was still so shocked at the creatures that the only thing I could say was, 'What are those... things?'

'They're _dracaenae_. _Scythian dracaenae._ '

'Scythian what?'

'Dra- never mind. They're like snake-women, but with two tails.'

'Yeah, I think I can see that.'

'I know, it's just - sorry. This is my first time seeing them. Juniper told me about them, but...'

'Juniper? Who's that?'

'A friend.'

Then I heard a hissing noise from the corner.

'Willow-'

Not just that corner. The other corner too. 'We should maybe get out...' Then I saw that the Scythian whatever-it-was-called was in front of the door.

'Coral, get your dagger out. Now.'

'It's not mine. I can't even use it.'

'Well, you can't use anything else, either, and that's the best you have.'

I got it out grudgingly. Too slowly. The _dracaena_ pounced and took the dagger. Seeing it there, I bolted towards the door, but it was blocked by another _dracaena_. I heard a hissing noise behind me. One was there as well. But how did it turn into three? Unless...

I looked around. Sure enough, Chloe and Melissa were gone.

'Why thank you, Coral Typhoon. We will havvvve ssssso much fun!' One of them smiled evilly.

'Coral!' Willow shouted.

'Willow, I'm sorry-' I started.

'Why did you pick it up so slowly? It's because you didn't want to take it out, wasn't it?! Why didn't you _trust_ me, just that one time?'

'It isn't that-'

'Now we're stuck here, with a monster holding Celestial Bronze, not to mention the other ones, and it's going to kill us.'

'But...' I couldn't believe I was hearing this. 'You would have died anyway. I was trying to help.'

Yet again, I was interrupted. 'It's not me I'm worried about, Coral. I came here to protect you. I volunteered instead of a normal satyr, but now- ' I had no idea of what was going on or what I was supposed to do, and Willow was angry at me for reasons I couldn't explain,but I was not going to just stand there and die, like she apparently thought I was. I wasn't useless. And I snapped.

'How is any of this my fault? You keep saying things, impossible things, and not explaining them because they would apparently put me in _danger_ , and now, here I am, in danger, and you're shouting at me because I don't get the things I don't even understand. You might get the things you're saying, sure, but this is my first time in a situation like this, and let me ask you this question; if you had no idea what was going on, and you were in this situation without knowing anything about your - your world - would you take a real dagger out of your shoe and stab someone who might just be acting? And now you're mentioning satyrs and _dracaenae_ , mythical creatures, and I've heard talking about dryads and demigods too, don't mistake me. Willow, I know you did your best, but can you just tell me _what on earth is happening?_ '

I didn't know who was more surprised; Willow or me. I'd never argued with her before, let alone shouted at her. Willow's eyes filled with tears. She could try, but she couldn't really stay angry for long.

'Willow... I'm so sorry - I didn't mean to hurt you- ' She turned away. 'Please, Willow, if I could only understand...'

'It's fine.' Willow said, although I knew it wasn't. But I didn't want to upset her more by telling her that it wasn't. 'I know I should explain more, and, I promise, if I can later, I will. But... you do realise we're still surrounded?'

'Yesssss, we are ssssstill here,' a _dracaena_ said. 'And we will not wait any longer to eliminate you.'

Just then, I heard Mrs Takimos shout, 'All right, everybody! Everyone in the javelin throw line up!'

And an idea popped into my head.

'I know you wouldn't wait,' I started, 'but wouldn't it seem a little suspicious if Willow and I just - you know, died - in the middle of sports day?'

'And what isssss your point?' A _dracaena_ replied.

'My point is that people will become suspicious of you, and you'll be kicked out.'

'Do you think we want to ssssstay here?'

'No, but what if there are other... demigods... in this school? You won't be able to do anything to them if you're not there.'

The word 'demigods' felt weird coming from my own mouth, and although there probably weren't others in this school (if they existed at all), I still felt guilty - what if there were, and I was putting them in danger? I pushed that thought out of my head. If my plan worked, the _dracaenae_ wouldn't bother anyone again.

'There are none. I cannot sssssmell any more of them.' The _draecana_ insisted, but I could see it hesitating.

'But what if there are? What if your sense of smell, is wrong? What would you do then?'

'Are you sssssaying we ssshould not kill you?' It hissed angrily. It was tempting to say, _Yes, please stop attacking us now!_ , but that wouldn't work. Instead I replied,

'No, I mean that maybe you should wait until maybe after sports day finishes, and then you could say that we died of exhaustion or something.'

'How do we know thisssss isssss not a trick? What if you run away?'

'How could we run away? You're much faster than us, and there are three of you. You have the dagger, so we don't have anything. How could this be a trick?'

Before it could answer, I heard Mrs Takimos shout again, 'I repeat, everyone for the javelin throw line up NOW!'

'I need to run!' I said, and the main _dracaena_ (the one who had been Emma, I think) hissed at the others to let me through - I guess it _really_ wanted to kill more demigods (if there were any at all). I ran out of the door, got my javelin, and ran to the throwing line.

'And finally, Coral has showed up.' Mrs Takimos announced. 'Where were you?' It was embarrassing to be told off in front of everyone, but nobody I knew very well was there, and after today I probably wouldn't come back here at all. Also, if I told the truth, she wouldn't believe me, so I just mumbled, 'Sorry.'

'Well, don't say sorry _now_. We'll talk about it later. Now, everybody participating, pick up your javelins NOW!'

I did the same as everyone else, but, unlike them, I wasn't doing this to win. I had to carry out my plan - and somehow make it seem like I made a mistake. Then, hopefully, Willow would understand what I was trying to do and carry out the plan from there.

'And throw in THREE...'

I looked behind me to see if the _dracaenae_ were still there.

'TWO...'

I glanced at them again to check if the one who I think had been Emma still had the dagger.

'ONE...'

I got into position, and waited.

'... AND GO!'

While everybody else threw their javelins forward, I threw mine backwards - right at the leader of the _dracaenae_. It didn't kill it, but it stunned it enough to drop the dagger onto the floor, and right into Willow's hands. Willow looked just as shocked as the _dracaena_ (and, to be honest, as shocked as I was that the first step of the plan actually worked), but ran to me before it could lunge at her.

'Traitor!' One of the _dracaenae_ hissed. 'It wasssss a trap!' I didn't get how they considered us traitors, since we were never on their side anyway, but I decided not to point that out. It could make things worse, and put Willow and I in more trouble than we were already in.

The _dracaenae_ seemed to hesitate to go nearer to us, giving Willow and I a little time to talk. I didn't know why at first, but then I realised that now we had the Celestial Bronze - whatever that was. They had nothing. If we were lucky, this was _their_ first time in a situation like this, as well as ours. But it wouldn't hold them for long.

'What should I do now?' Willow asked me urgently.

'Umm...' I was planning for Willow to take it from there, so I was a bit surprised when she asked me for help. No, not just surprised.

Shocked.

'I was hoping you'd know what to do - I didn't plan any further.' I said sheepishly. 'Please, could you just kill them, because... I don't know if I can. I'm sorry, I know you don't like violence, but you seem like you've been in situations like this before. I haven't.'

'I haven't been in them either, only heard about them. Apparently there was this big battle back at camp... something to do with the Labyrinth... almost a quarter of all the satyrs and dryads were killed.'

'Wait. Hold on, Willow. Slow down. What camp? And now you're saying that the _Labyrinth_ is real?'

'I'll explain later, like I promised. It's just that now...'

'Please, Willow. I've never attacked anything before, and forget killing.'

'Are you kidding? You hit that monster right in the chest with that javelin!' She laughed, but took the dagger anyway. At that moment, the _dracaenae_ charged. The laughter left Willow's eyes.

'They'll just get killed not die. They'll just get killed, not die.' She muttered to herself. As they got closer, she closed her eyes, holding the dagger out in front of her. 'They won't die, won't die...'

I looked away for one, two, three seconds - and the next thing I knew I was facing her again, and a pile of dust. And even that didn't stay. It eventually got blown away by the wind.

'What... just happened?' I managed.

'One gone - but two to go.' Willow replied, out of breath. As I looked around, I realised she was right. Their leader may have turned to dust, but the other two _dracaenae_ were still there, their eyes full of malice.

'You'd better go. Until the same thing happens to you.' I told them.

'Coral?' Willow called. 'We should go. Everybody's staring at us.' Sure enough, when I turned around, I saw every person apart from Willow look at us in horror.

'Why are they all looking at us like that?' I asked Willow.

'Well, mortals can't see through the Mist, so they think that we just killed normal students.' She said, matter-of-factly.

'So now they're probably going to call the police.'

'Yeah... but for now, I suggest we- ' She glanced behind her. Mrs Takimos was already on the phone. ' _Run!_ '

Willow started sprinting, and I followed. We were almost at the roadside when Willow stopped and looked around, like she'd forgotten something. She gave the dagger back to me.

'Coral, my tree. I need to get it. If any monster attacks you, use this.'

'Willow! Forget the tree. We need to leave! The _dracaenae_ are still back there, and now I have the dagger; you'll get killed!'

'If I leave my tree there, something will happen to it. And if it does, I'll still die, even if we escape safely.'

'Willow, please, you can get a new one later! Just please _wait_ \- ' I called after Willow, but she was already nearly out of sight. I guess it was my turn to wait for her. I waited, one minute, two, five, until Willow finally showed up, carrying her tree ahead of her. I was just about to relax, but then I saw two snake-like figures chasing after Willow, and heard the distant sound of sirens in the distance.

'Willow, please just put the tree down. It's just making you slower.'

'I already told you, if something happens to it, I'll get killed.'

'Willow, you wouldn't try and sacrifice yourself to save your tree, and if it got harmed, you probably wouldn't die of grief. Stop overreacting!'

'Coral, you don't understand. It's not mental or emotional. I mean it literally. If it gets harmed, I get harmed. If it dies, I die.'

'Willow...'

'I said it was a bit like a present. Well, I lied. It isn't just a tree. It's my life force. Did you ever wonder why it was exactly the same age as me? Why I always carried it around, even if it was very inconvenient? Why I was named after a tree and you never even heard my last name?' Now that Willow pointed that out, I realised that I really hadn't known her last name. I hadn't even asked. I felt embarrassed - here I was, thinking she was my best friend, and I didn't know her surname.

'Oh... sorry... I didn't ask...' I said. 'What is it?'

'I don't have one.' She fiddle with her fingers. 'The dracaenae aren't the only creatures from Greek mythology around here, Coral. I- I-' She trailed off.

'Then who are you - what are you?' I asked.

'I... Coral, I'm a dryad.'

* * *

 **AN: First chapter, done.**

 **Can anybody guess** **Coral's godly parent? I left some hints (if you're stuck, read Coral's dreams again), so are you up for the challenge? If so, feel free to comment in the reviews!**

 **In case anybody's confused about why a dryad is looking after Coral instead of a satyr, the next chapter will explain why. For those of you who are curious towards what Coral's 'hideout' really is, again, your thirst for information will be satisfied in Chapter 2.**

 **Also, for any critics out there, I welcome reviews that will help to improve this fanfic.**

 **Thanks!**

 **-SylviaNightshade**


	2. We talk through a rainbow - C

**AN: Hi, readers and fellow PJO fans! Chapter 2 has arrived!**

 **Like I said last chapter, want something funnier? Go to Chapter 3 - although, be warned, you will miss some crucial plot points.**

 **A big shout-out to** Qoheleth **, for being the first person to review! Anyway, let's get this chapter started;**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own PJO or HoO *is sad*.**

* * *

 **II. We talk through a rainbow**

 _Coral_

I stared at Willow in shock. Now that she said it, all the mysterious puzzle pieces around her fitted together. The way she always carried her tree around, the way she protected it, the way she was named after it; how she always covered her face when she cried, and that one time when I thought I saw a green tear trickling down her face from her leaf-coloured eyes; her knowledge of Greek Mythology. Everything started to make sense. And yet it just seemed so surprised that she wasn't human. My friend - my _best_ friend - was officially a tree. I could have stood there with my mouth hanging open forever, but luckily Willow saved me from the embarrassment.

'Coral, I know you're surprised, and I know it wasn't the best time to tell you, but we need to get out of here now.' Willow's voice stirred me out of my thoughts. She grabbed my hand and we started running. The sound of sirens was closer now; I knew there were only seconds left. The run turned into a sprint.

'Where to?' I asked Willow, out of breath.

'Your underground hideout. It's camouflaged - might be the only place that's safe,' she answered, 'and I might understand what that place is now.'

'It's not just a hideout, it's the closest thing I have to a home,' I muttered, but kept running.

It wasn't long before I saw the familiar wall of ivy ahead of me. I let go of Willow's hand and pushed the hidden curtain apart. I went in, Willow following close behind. As soon as she got inside, she looked through all the things that were already there when I moved in, things I didn't really bother to look through. Before I asked what she was doing, I realised that she was looking for something, though what she was looking for, I had no idea. She mumbled to herself about rainbows and messages, confusing me.

'Seriously, Coral, do you even have any- Oh!' Willow seemed to find what she was looking for. She held up a brown bag.

'Why were you looking for that?' I asked. She didn't answer. Instead, she opened the bag, and I gasped. Inside were maybe 17, 18 gold coins.

'What are these? They're... amazing... but how are they going to help us? I mean, they aren't exactly dollars.'

'We're not going to buy anything with them,' replied Willow, almost laughing. 'We're going to send an Iris-Message.'

'An Irish message?'

'No, an _Iris_ message.'

'Iris? As in the Greek goddess of the rainbow? She's real?'

'Well, if the gods aren't real, then I'm an elephant.'

I could see that Willow was definitely not an elephant, so I just accepted that there were such things as gods. I had just learned my best friend was a tree nymph - it wasn't any more surprising, or maybe I had just had enough surprise for the day.

'Ok, so how exactly are we going to send an Iris-Message?' I enquired.

'First we need a rainbow.' Responded Willow.

'Wait.' I stopped her. 'I'm sorry if this is important, but first you owe me an explanation. Not just one - explain _everything_.'

'Please, Coral, I really need to send this.'

'Willow, I saved your _life_. The least you can do is tell me what's happening to mine.'

'Ok...' Willow started to answer. 'You may already know that the gods are real, and if you don't - well, the gods are real. You already know that I'm a dryad. But what you need to know is that you're not entirely human either.'

'What - what do you mean, I'm not entirely human? And please can you tell me why those _dracaenae_ wanted to kill me?'

'They like to attack people like you. That's what monsters like that do.'

'Wait... you said _people like me_. Do you mean I'm not the only one?

'Of course you're not the only one. There are lots of people like you, waiting to discover who they are.' Seeing my expression, she added quickly, 'but of course you're the only _you_ you. Nobody's exactly the same; and you're amazing.'

I didn't really believe her - what good things had I done in my life? I had nearly got her _killed_. I know I had said I saved her life, but she could have probably saved her own life without me, and without turning literally everybody at school against us. Which reminded me...

'Willow, back at school, you said something about the Mist. You also said something about it earlier. What exactly is the Mist, because for some reason I don't think you were talking about the fog kind.'

'Slow down, Coral,' said Willow, exasperated, but I could see the glint of laughter in her eyes. 'You're right, I wasn't talking about 'the fog kind,' as you call it,' she said, using my words exactly. I felt my cheeks going red from embarrassment- it wasn't exactly the best description.

'The Mist is a veil that separates the world of mortals from the world of gods. Whenever mortals see something from the god side, the Mist affects their perception so they see something they would understand. Chiron calls it human stubbornness.'

'Who's Chiron?'

'The activities director at camp.'

'What camp?'

'Camp Half-Blood. The only safe place for people like you. Well, for dryads and satyrs too, but mostly for people like you.'

'Ok,' I said, though I was still confused. 'Wait... earlier, you mentioned Juniper. Is she also a dryad, like you?'

'Yeah, she is. She lives in the woods at camp. When we get there, I plan to plant my tree there, and not carry it around with me everywhere I go.'

'You said 'when'. Do you mean we're actually going there?'

Willow laughed. 'Of course! Where else?'

'But...' I couldn't wrap my head around all this. 'How do I know the people there will accept me? Do you have to pay for it, because you know I don't have any money.'

'Why would you have to pay to stay safe? As I said before, it's a safe place for demigods, and- '

Willow was cut off by me. 'Did you just say demigods?'

'Yes, what you are.'

'What I am?'

'As I said before, yes, what you are. Half-mortal, half-god.'

'But - but - _me_? Half-god? I don't feel godly at all, or even half-godly. You've probably confused me with someone else... sorry about all the trouble that I've put you in...'

'Coral, I'm sure it's you. You have the smell of one, and apart from that, I _know_ you.'

'What do you mean? How does knowing me prove anything? And if you know everything about my life, tell me who my godly parent is.'

'Coral, just think about this. You're mother left you so early that you couldn't even remember her. You survived that tsunami - how would any human do that? You have dyslexia and ADHD, and those _dracaenae_ looked for you... Of course you're a demigod!'

'So, basically my godly parent is a goddess. Well, that narrows it down. Any more details?'

'You're unclaimed. That's strange actually, because the gods promised to claim their children when they turn 13. But I guess your parent either didn't keep her promise, or didn't know about it. It could be a minor goddess, after all. For details, I don't know, but maybe you being the only one who survived the tsunami has something to do with godly powers?'

I stayed silent. Willow should have know not to bring up things like that. I almost got lost in the flood of memories again, but I snapped myself out of it.

'Oh... sorry, Coral, I didn't - I didn't think about bringing that up. I was trying to give you answers...'

For the second time this week, I felt close to tears, but I managed to mumble, 'It's fine.'

Maybe Willow noticed that I was sad, so she changed the subject.

'As I was saying, Camp Half-Blood is a safe place for demigods, and a you wouldn't _believe_ how many have been in the same situation as you are now.'

' _Exactly_ the same?' I questioned, raising an eyebrow.

'Ok, maybe not _exactly_ the same, but very, very similar. So, would you like me to explain any more about your life, or is that enough for now?'

I wanted to find out more, but my mind already had so much new information that I felt like if it took any more in it was going to explode, so I said that Willow could tell me the rest later.

'Ok then, are we ready for the Iris Message?' Willow asked me.

'I guess,'

'Ok, then, back to what I was saying before.'

'Before what?'

'Before... well, ages ago. We need a rainbow.'

'And how exactly are we going to get one?'

In response, Willow took a prism out of her pocket. She placed it so it caught the light filtering through the vines, and, sure enough, it formed a rainbow.

'Now what do we do?' I asked her.

'Watch me.' She took a gold coin out of the bag, and thew it into the rainbow. I thought it was just going to fall on the other side, but Willow murmured, 'O Iris, goddess of the rainbow, accept my offering,' and the coin disappeared. The rainbow stayed a rainbow.

'How is that supposed to help?'

'Well, it needs to be told who to contact first.' Willow said, as if all this was perfectly simple (which I guess it was for her, but that didn't matter).

'And who are you going to contact?' I asked.

Willow, ignoring me, said to the rainbow, 'Chiron, Camp Half-Blood.'

An image shimmered through the mist. On the other side, I saw a summer camp (or at least, I thought I saw a summer camp). There were strawberry fields, a basketball court, a rock climbing wall with - wait, was that lava? I could also see a variety of Greek-styled buildings, which could have passed for actual buildings from the ancient times if they weren't perfectly clean. There were also twenty buildings, arranged in a rectangle, which I guessed were the places where people stayed, but they looked so... different from each other; even if I couldn't really see them clearly. I seemed to be standing on a porch of a house, except my feet were still on the floor of my underground... home, I guess I would call it, and Willow was still behind me. Right in front of me was a half-human, half-horse - a centaur, with his back to me. I wondered how we would get his attention, but behind me Willow said, 'Umm... hi, Chiron?'

The centaur turned. 'Willow!' He exclaimed. 'You haven't contacted Camp in quite a while. Is your assignment going well?'

'Sort of...' Willow explained what had happened.

'Ah, I see.' The centaur, who I guessed was Chiron, said. 'I'm that case, Willow, both you and Coral need to get to camp as quickly as possible. The police will probably never find you, but you cannot be sure. As you already know, Willow, mortals can't see the camp, so you should be safe here.'

I turned to Willow. 'You never told me that!'

'I thought you said I told you enough.'

'You could have told me that when you were talking about camp!'

We were both interrupted by Chiron; 'I take it that your friend knows about our camp already?'

Willow blushed from embarrassment. 'Yeah, she wanted to know about her life, and monsters already attacked her, so I told her. I tried to keep it a secret for as long as I could, so she didn't attract any monsters, but she saved my life, Chiron- I couldn't just not tell her. Sorry.'

'Did I look like I was going to tell you off, Willow? After all, you are the very first dryad on an assignment like this.'

'What do you mean, the first dryad? What assignment?' I was hoping that Willow would answer, but Chiron gave me the information instead.

'There are usually satyrs, at different schools across the country, looking for demigods to bring here. When one is found, the satyr tries to befriend them. There was a satyr at your school, before you even came, but he was, how to say it, summoned, so there was nobody to look after you.' He stopped.

I didn't really know how I felt about this demigod finding. The way the centaur put it, the whole thing was like a treasure hunt - goat-people finding demigods. We were only befriend because of what we were and not how we were personality-wise, which sounded a bit like discrimination of other to me, and apparently we needed to be looked after. The camp (or at least what I could see of it) seemed nice enough to me, but I wasn't really sure if this hide-and-seek was really worth it. And how did the satyrs - if they were even real, know who the demigods were? How, and I was very tempted to ask Willow this question for the second time today, _how_ did she even know I was a demigod?

Chiron seemed to know what I was thinking, because he said to me, 'Don't worry about it, child. It's not how it may seem. As I was saying, the satyr was summoned because of circumstances beyond my control, which left nobody else to make sure you were safe from possible monsters. We were going to send another satyr, but Willow here kindly volunteered to keep you from an attack -and I'm very glad she did, because those _dracaenae_ , from what I am told, could have easily killed you if you were not prepared. At any rate, Willow seemed sensible, and was the same age as you, so we thought we would give it a try.'

'Willow did well,' I said.

'Quite. Now may you both please tell me where you are, so we can pick you up. I'm sure you would do fine by yourselves, but, as Willow has informed me, the police are looking for you, so it will not be as simple as I had hoped. When you get here, I can make it seem like there was two extremely venomous snakes attacking you instead of students, but until then I'm afraid you will have to cope on your own.'

'Actually, about our location...' started Willow, 'we're about twenty minutes west from camp, but...'

'Yes?'

'I think that Coral might have found one of Thalia, Luke and Annabeth's old shelters.'

'What?' Chiron and I said at the same time time, Chiron out of surprise, and I because I had no idea what was going on, or who those people were.

'Why do you think that?' Asked Chiron.

'Well, it's camouflaged well behind a wall of ivy, and inside it has lots of Celestial Bronze weapons, ambrosia and nectar, and even a bag of drachmas. I was surprised when I first went inside and saw all the demigod provisions, since Coral didn't even know who she was yet, but when I came back I realised... Juniper told me about their days on the run - Grover had told her - and I just thought that this seemed like something they would do. I'm probably wrong, but I was wondering...

'Hmm, I think you're right, Willow. ' Replied the centaur. Willow seemed flustered, but she said thank you.

'Now, just stay there. I'll send the Grey Sisters to you - they should get here quickly. You do have spare drachmas, am I correct?'

'We still have about sixteen left, yes.' Said Willow.

'Ok, then, I hope to see you at Camp Half-Blood soon, if you make it alive. Just make sure you-' he was interrupted by a kid in an orange T-shirt asking him something. '-Never mind! Just stay safe!'

With that, Willow swiped her hand through the rainbow, and it disappeared.

'What do we do now?' I asked her.

'What Chiron said to do. Wait.'

I sat on the floor of my underground shelter that wasn't even mine, and wondered about how quickly I had started to accept this new life. I guess that ever since that glowing woman appeared in my dream, I had known that there was something more to the world than what there seemed, and now that something had finally caught up to me. I was just about to drift off when I heard Willow's voice calling my name.

'Coral? Coral! Taxi's here!'

'Taxi? Chiron didn't say anything about a taxi.'

'The Gray Sisters taxi, of course!' Willow said, as if it were perfectly obvious. I went outside. On the pavement outside, there was a gray taxi looking like it was made of smoke, as opposed to the usual yellow ones.

'Why is it gray, and smoky? Won't we just fall through?' I asked Willow.

'Don't question it. Come inside! I can still hear sirens, you know.' I listened. Sure enough, there was still the faint sound of sirens in the distance. Willow went to the window, gave them a gold coin, and said, 'Camp Half-Blood, Long Island Sound.'

We both went inside, and sat down. A video came up on a screen in front of us, saying something about buckling up. I looked down at the seat. Instead of normal leather straps, there were black chains. Willow had warned me about how bumpy the ride was, though, so I strapped myself in anyway.

'I'm biting the coin!' One sister said.

'No, you bit it last time! Give the tooth to me!' Another argued.

'Tooth?' I asked Willow.

'They have one tooth and one eye to share between them.' She whispered to me.

I remembered something like this from a myth, though I couldn't remember which one it was from. The third sister, who had the eye and was driving, saw her advantage and snatched the tooth, and popped it in her mouth. I looked away, a bit disgusted. People complain about having to share a toothbrush, and I could only imagine how many problems this would cause.

'Hey, where's my tooth gone?' Screeched the second sister. 'Anger, give it back!'

'I didn't take it! And besides, the tooth is _not_ yours, it should be mine.'

'You liar!'

'I'm not lying! You're the one lying. You obviously have it, you're just trying to wind me up!'

I heard the third sister snicker quietly. In the background. The other sisters heard.

'Wasp, give me that tooth! You can't have both!' Complained the sister who I thought was called Anger.

'Who says?' Wasp shouted back, joining the argument.

'I do!' argued the second sister.

'That doesn't count towards anything, Tempest.'

'Yes it does! Now give me the tooth!' cried Tempest, grabbing the tooth from Wasp and shoving it in her mouth. At the same time, Anger snatched the eye, and tried to take the tooth away from Tempest, too, but her hand was swatted away.

'Now give me the coin!'

'I don't have it!' Wasp practically screamed.

'Neither do I.'

Anger turned to us. 'Give us the coin!'

Willow gave Anger a gold coin from the bag, but it was soon flicked away from Anger by Tempest. Unfortunately, Wasp had been leaning on the button that made the window go down, and the coin sailed out of the window and into the river below.

'Aaargh!' Complained Anger. 'Another one, please!' She told Willow, who held the bag of coins away from them and said,

'No more coins until we get to Camp Half-Blood. You just polluted the river.'

Almost as if in respons, Wasp shouted, 'Accelerating!' and stomped her foot on the pedal.

'Wasp, why do _you_ always accelerate! Let me have a go!'

'No, you idiot! I'm the best at it! If you drove, we would all crash!'

'How do you know? I've never even driven this thing!'

'Exactly! We would all crash!'

'No, we would not! You're not great at driving anyway! And give me the eye!'

'No!'

As the sisters were arguing, the buildings went by in a blur as the speed keps increasing. I felt like I was going to be sick, and I was also a little bit worried, since if the Gray Sisters didn't stop arguing, wouldn't we just keep getting faster and faster? And what would happen then? Next to me, Willow didn't seem to well either, her face turning even greener than it usually was (and that was saying something, considering she was a dryad). I was glad I had my seat-belt on.

Soon, we seemed to have reached our destination. We slowed down and tried to stop, spinning around three times in the process. We got out and Willow thanked the Gray Sisters, queasy though she was. She handed them another gold coin, and then they sped off, probably looking for more passages to make sick, both mentally and physically.

I looked at my surroundings. Willow and I seemed to be on the top of a hill. In front of us was a pine tree, with a gold cloth - wait, was that the Golden Fleece? - and a dragon curled around the trunk. I was worried about it in case it started attacking, but Willow, seeing my worried look, told me that it only attacked mortals (which didn't exactly comfort me). I looked into the valley below. Inside was the same camp I saw through the rainbow - the same buildings, same cabins, same porch, same everything. Holding Willow's hand, I stepped past the pine tree, and into the camp.

When we got to the big blue house, I saw a familiar centaur (or as familiar one can be after only being seen through a rainbow).

'Chiron!' Willow called.

'Hello, Willow and Coral,' the centaur smiled, 'and welcome to Camp Half-Blood.'

* * *

 **A.N. So, there's your explanation about a dryad being Coral's guardian. If you're not happy with it, or if you have some ideas on how to improve it, please tell me by reviewing. That's what they're there for, anyway. The same goes for the Gray Sisters' argument, and the rest of this chapter in general.**

 **As you can see, I've kept my promise (so far). This chapter _is_ shorter than the previous one, and I've explained everything that needed explaining. I think this is a good length, so the rest of the chapters will also probably be around this length.**

 **Again, thanks for reading!**

 **-SylviaNightshade**


	3. My teacher gets possessed (I think) - Z

**A.N. Hi guys! Sorry for the late update, but I promise that from now I'll try to update regularly. As promised, this chapter introduces a new character, and it is from her point of view. For those of you who skipped my A.N.s before, I just want to let you know that this chapter is where the proper 'funniness' starts, and for those of you who have been waiting patiently for this chapter, it's here!**

 **You guys know how I'm doing this as a sort-of collaboration with my friend, right? Well, she wrote about half of this chapter, and Zaida's based on her (for those of you who want to know who Coral's based on, she's based on nobody. Also, Zaida's age has nothing to do with my friend, it's just that I wanted to make her a bit younger than Coral), and as a thank-you I want to share something funny that happened with my friend and I.**

 **We were in a Geography lesson, and I was doing presentations on energy sources. My group had to do Hydroelectric energy, and of course that included dams (everybody's familiar with the dam jokes, right?). So we were doing our presentation, and when it was the time for people to ask questions, my friend put her hand up, and said, 'What if there's a dam problem?' And I was literally holding in my laugh, because she's also a fan of PJO...**

 **Anyway, back to the point.**

Qoheleth **, I'm still thinking about whag Coral's surname should be changed to, I haven't forgotten. Also, do you have any ideas of what it should be changed to?**

is **, if you mean making the chapters shorter, I've tried. Hopefully the new length pleases you!**

GreyUnicornRules **, thanks! I'm happy you like it. Also, I did look at your account.**

Killer Frost **, thank you, too. Also, if you didn't notice, I did edit Chapter Two a bit.**

 **Finally, before we get into the story, I am announcing that this is a 'guess the parent' chapter, for Zaida, so, again, feel free to comment (in the reviews)!**

 **Anyway, without any further interruptions, on with the story!**

 **PS. Z is for Zaida (as you can probably guess).**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own PJO or HoO, sadly, but I** ** _do_** **own the plot and my OCs.**

* * *

 **III. My Teacher Gets Possessed (I think...)**

 _Zaida_

Seriously, though. Don't ask me about my teacher attacking me. Or about my exceptional luck. Or about the girl that appeared out of nowhere. I honestly have no answers. All I know is that the day I had, to put it simply, was weird. Which, to be honest, is not really saying much, because weird is basically the description of my life.

But maybe I should start from the beginning.

My name is Zaida Verdine. I'm 14. Yeah, when you hear about my powers and the fact that I fight monsters, you'll be wondering why I'm about to tell you this. Being a demigod sucks. Not the powers bit, but the getting chased by psychotic monsters bit. Example That Day. That's what I call it. I had just moved in from Australia. (Yes, I'm Australian, no, I've never eaten a kangaroo. Or stroked a dingo.) Compared to Sydney, New York was dull and cold. I was going to school and it was my second day. People had said they liked my accent and asked me if I had a pet koala, (answer: no, and that's supposed to be said sadly, in case you didn't notice). I felt tiny amongst the looming glass buildings. My school looked like a dwarf amongst giants. St Bob's senior school. And to answer any questions: Yes, I'm serious. And no, Bob the Builder is not my school's patron. I don't think so anyway. To be honest, I'm lucky to have gotten in on a scholarship considering the fact it is one of the most expensive schools in New York. My friends were numerous, yet distant. I left all of my close friends in Sydney. Anyway, I first knew something was up when the philosophy teacher walked in. Miss Hawkins was really horrid. She set us triple homework on the first day. But today, she was lovely, handing out praise and no homework. A sudden burst of kindness from the depths of her grotty soul? I think not.

It was the same for a lot of the other dreadful teachers. The Spanish teacher Mr. Falls who apparently had made plenty of students cry, gave sweets out and yet again, no homework. It was like the bad teachers were celebrating something, and that unsettled me. Moving to America was the worst luck I've ever had. Other than my dead mum. I loved my stepmother though. She made my dad happy which was fine by me. As I mentioned earlier, my luck is pretty exceptional, for example when I guessed half the answers to my end of year Maths exam and got 87%. And also there was also that time when I slipped of the side of a cliff by the sea, and came out with nothing worse than a pair of grazed knees and elbows. It was a minor miracle as my dad said. Though I'm not sure about the minor part.

So yeah, you could say I've had a lot of luck. Not that I rely on it too much. I kind of use it as a back up plan to when things go terribly wrong. (Hint - most of the time). My life is cool. I should probably try the lottery at some point.

'Miss Verdine,' said my German teacher, Miss Hutchins, bringing me back to reality, 'Could you please explain to the class what I was just talking about?' I panicked, Luck, I thought, don't fail me now.

'Um...' I guessed, trying not to sound like I was thinking on the spot, 'you were just telling the class how we were going to revisit the present tense?'

Miss Hutchins looked surprised, but then smiled at me. To be honest, I'm pretty sure I was just as surprised as she was, if not more. 'Yes, Zaida, very good. However, next time, do not look out of the window while I am speaking, even if you are listening.' With that she walked away, probably to interrogate some other poor student of hers. I sighed from relief. Sometimes I wish I could just get away and breathe. Was this all there was to life? Endless, predictable school?

 _What else would you want?_ Ithought bitterly _, Superheroes? Monsters perhaps? What power would you have? Luck? Pretty lame if you ask me. I scowled inwardly._ Yup, I'm not particularly self motivated. I've resigned myself to inheriting my dad's massive fortune after he helped discover several different cures to several separate diseases. If I was more like him, I could probably do something useful, like protecting people, saving humanity and feeling good about myself.

Having nothing to do (ok, fine, I guess I could listen to the teacher, but we're being serious here), I stared out of the window. A young girl, around 13 years old with long dark hair plaited together and trailing down her back sat on the rim of the fountain outside with a book on her lap. She was in a queue, supposedly for a tour around the school.

Then nervousness filled me. The tour! Which... I had somehow completely forgotten about. Everybody else had seemed to have either forgotten (which was unlikely) or had just not bothered to remind our teacher of it (which was much more likely), partly because nobody really wanted to fail on our gigantic end of year exam, and partly because everybody just really hated doing the tours. The parents usually ask you awkward questions like what is your least favourite thing about the school or who's your favourite teacher. I mean, whoever or whatever I say, the teachers are gonna kill me. Usually I just say I don't have a favourite or I love everything (total lie).

Then I noticed something strange about the girl. What was she doing? As I looked, she skipped around the fountain and gazed in the water. She was staring into the water, and I noticed that she was murmuring something. She did it again, and this time I read her lips. She was saying something along the lines of _I wish they were real_. Huh, maybe she had some imaginary friends or something. Then I noticed the book she was holding tightly. Maybe that had something to do with it... but before I could make out the title, I heard someone whispering fiercely in my ear;

'Zaida!'. I jumped a little in my seat, turning around to see my friend, Dinah. 'What are you doing?' She asked with part curiosity, part annoyance. Dinah Holly, the only person who had taken any particular interest in me, had managed to be strangely weird and weirdly strange at the same time.

'Zaida! Are you even listening to me?' Dinah's annoyance was beginning to overcome her curiosity.

'Yeah, I was just... um... thinking about the upcoming chemistry test,'

Dinah's eyes widened, 'There was a chemistry test?'

I smiled at her. She was so clueless. And she says _I'm_ in a world of my own. 'Yeah, it's after lunch,' I thought for a moment. 'I could revise with you, unless Monopoly club is on, because you know I always win at that,'

Dinah pouted, 'So, that's a no then,'

I laughed. 'Probably,'

She huffed grumpily. 'Well you'd better make up for it at some point,' her eyes lit up, 'Hey, maybe you could come around to my house at some point,'

I forced a smile. 'Yeah, maybe. That would be, er, nice...' I remembered the last time I had stayed at Dinah's house. It hadn't really gone well. Just as Dinah was about to reply, someone's voice interrupted us.

'Miss Verdine and Miss Holly, is there something so exciting that you must discuss it while I am talking? Perhaps you would like to share your oh so interesting conversation with us?' I flashed a dirty look at Dinah, and then considered my options: Lying, and being found out, or telling the truth, and being found out. I decided on the latter, and smiled at my teacher.

'No thank you Miss Hutchins, I apologise for interrupting you so rudely,' Dinah stared at me as Miss Hutchins' death glare softened but only a little.

'Thank you for your honesty Zaida, I appreciate your apology,' She said a little stiffly. I could feel that Dinah's gaze had not lessened on my skull. To be honest, if I hung around this school much longer, there would probably be a smoking crater in my skull soon. I smirked to myself. Yes, I think things were going pretty well for me, unless I became my dad's personal charity case for a brain transplant.

At break, I ran up to the canteen in an attempt to grab the last donut. As I was sprinting down the corridor, I saw that girl again. She was looking rather lost as she scanned the many different rooms. She saw the label on the door for the head of Maths, grinned and ran away. I frowned and continued on my way to the lunch hall. I managed to grab the last donut. Behind me, a rather disappointed looking girl with dirty blonde hair scowled at me. For a moment, her eyes flashed a strange shade of amber. No, not amber, maybe... gold? As I stared more, she exhaled and a sliver of darkness escaped from her mouth and slipped off among the crowd. The girl looked a bit confused and turned around, heading off to the coffee machine. It's your imagination, I told myself, you're just tired, that's all. That I could believe.

Though, as I thought about it, it wasn't the first time I had seen strange things. Once, when I was about nine years old and I had only come to the USA for a holiday - we were still living in Australia then - I was visiting the St Louis Arch when I saw a chihuahua with a spiked collar around its neck, snapping and snarling at its owner, who seemed to be talking back. Another time, I saw a crocodile with an almost human smile. The pan there were these huge red fireflies - and yes, I said _red_ \- that looked like a pair of eyes in the darkness. Anyway, I had gotten used to the fact that no-one would listen to me when I told them that there really was a monster under my bed (tip: do not). I guess I could have a vivid imagination. Or... I don't know, I'm going crazy? That would make sense (though my friends and basically everyone who knew me would argue that I'm long past the _going_ point).

'Zaida!' Dinah's voice bellowed over from the other side of the canteen. I sighed. It was going to be a long day.

I guess when I had come in the that day, I should've realised something was going to go wrong. Of course, I didn't know the truth then, but still. The last night, although I had no homework, I came home to my dad slumped over the table with a bottle of soda in his hand. And no, my dad doesn't drink, but he had obviously had a bad day. He had dark rings under his eyes, and looked ready to fall asleep on the dining table.

I sometimes wonder why my luck only seems to extend to me, yet not to the people I cared about. Dinah had been crying over the chemistry test when I came in because the teachers' good will did not extend to Mr Holly, Dinah's father. He had yelled at her that children who deserved to go to a privileged school like were stuck at bad schools, with poor parents and little to no social life. Mr Holly was a jerk. He beat his wife and screamed at his daughter and had threatened on multiple occasions to kick them out of the house. The one time when I had come to Dinah's house for a sleepover... well, long story. Let's just say that I wouldn't want to repeat that experience. Dinah's father was behaving like the definition of himself - a jerk, like I said.

It's ironic, because what I want most in the world is for others to be happy. I wouldn't have minded a little hardship now and then. I had no idea how much I was going to experience. Sometimes, I forget that everyone doesn't have my luck. In a way, being lucky is one of my worst curses. Anyway, let's move on from the depressing subjects of my life.

I was fingering the braid I had tied up at the front of my hair. I guess my hair is nice. My Australian friends always told me it was blonde, but I have and will always call it brown. It's very short, longer at the front but at the back, all of my neck is exposed. I'm pretty tanned but that's probably going to fade while I live in the USA. My eyes are... green? Yeah, they're kind of green with amber flecks. Ah... is this what other people have to do when describing themselves in books? I sound incredibly narcissistic. Ah, well. If you don't like it, suck it.

Continuing with the story. I had made a braid at the front of my hair. It had almost come undone with all my fiddling. I think that's why probably my dad got me to cut my hair, so it wouldn't become a great knot attached to my head. Ugh! I'm stuck in the self description! Fiddling with my hair isn't the point. The point is, I was nervous. It was like... something was wrong. I don't know what, but it was like a presence was stalking me.

'Miss Verdine?' My tour teacher had paired me with a little girl with freckles and ginger pigtails, and two grown-ups that I assumed were her parents. She looked like she was eight or nine, but she was wearing an Ariana Grande crop top and jeans, as if that made her all grown-up or something.

'Hey,' I said, 'What's your name?'

'Chelsea,' the little girl said, annoyed, and turned away. Her orange hair hit my face, and she didn't seem to be in a hurry to say anything else.

Her parents sighed, 'Sorry about our daughter,' The man said a little tiredly, 'She's been impossible since her sister stole her favourite toy dog.'

'It was her Christmas present,' The mother explained, 'and my other daughter got jealous, so... I think you can guess what happened. '

'So... when did that happen?' I asked the parents, trying to make conversation. And yes, I admit, asking about a stolen toy in front of the girl it was stolen from was probably not the best conversation starter (or continuer, whatever, if that's even a word), but you've got to give it to me that it was creative.

'Oh, from now? Maybe about six years ago. Chelsea was only three.' said the father, as if this was perfectly normal.

As for me, I nearly choked on my doughnut. 'So that happened when she was three, and she still holds grudges.' I wanted to say poor you to the parents - they seemed nice enough - but then I remembered that Chelsea, who's new nickname was _the_ _mini-imp_ (courtesy of me, of course, based on how her parents talked about her), was still there, and was giving me a stubborn look. She seemed to be saying, _stop talking about it, otherwise my sister will steal_ your _toys._

'So, where- ' I started to say, trying to change the subject. I wasn't scared of Chelsea, or her sister for that matter, but as tempting as it was to send my (unfortunately) non-existent pet koala after her, I didn't want to get in her bad side. I felt like that would be one situation which my luck wouldn't be able to get me out of.

Unfortunately, Chelsea's parents seemed to think I was still talking about the toy. Why, I didn't know, but I didn't really get the feeling that they knew when someone was trying to talk about something else.

'Oh, we sent her to a boarding school. There was this place for troubled kids. ' Seeing my puzzled look, the dad added, 'Not Chelsea, of course, her sister.'

'Umm, I was kinda talking about the tour...' I told the parents, 'and asking about where you would like to go.'

'The lunch place!' Exclaimed the mini-imp suddenly. When her parents looked at her incredulously, she snapped, rolling her eyes, 'I _said_ , the lunch place.'

'We know what you said, honey,' said the mother, 'but we're at this lovely school,' (I had to stop myself from rolling my eyes at that) 'with so many different features,' (I tried harder at that), 'and the first thing you want to see is the lunch hall?'

'Yes, did you not hear what I said? TWICE?' Chelsea insisted stubbornly. 'I told you, mummy, the first thing I want to see when I go to a school is _if_ _it_ _has_ _good_ _food_!' She shouted, almost throwing a tantrum - which would not make a good impression in front of everyone. To me, it seemed like Chelsea's mental age was similar to that of a three-year-old's.

I also didn't tell the parents that of that of that was the case, St Bob's probably wouldn't be on their Top Ten - or even Top 20 - schools to go to list. But then again, what schools do have any good food?

'Ok,' the father said, defeated, 'we'll see the lunch hall first.'

Also, that reminded me. I was getting bored of just referring to them as 'the parents' - or 'the mother' and 'the father', for that matter.

'So, what are your names?' I asked them. I guess they either forgot to take a name sticker, or wore them under the jumpers they were wearing, because I couldn't see any.

'Oh yes, sorry. How could we forget to introduce ourselves? My name is Sarah and this is Mark.' Said Sarah. I didn't bother asking for their surnames. I figured I would find it out sometime anyway, and besides, I didn't really care.

When I was leading Sarah, Mark and Chelsea to the cafeteria, I passed my friend Dinah. She was touring that strange girl I saw earlier. Again, I wondered what she was doing by that fountain, and why she grinned when she saw the maths department. Maybe she really liked maths...? But she didn't really strike me as that sort of person. Maybe I'd ask Dinah after the tour, that was, if she got any answers.

The rest of the tour went quite normally - that is, if normal means a nine-year-old girl interrupting you every few seconds (ok, fine, that might be a tiny exaggeration, but with the emphasis on tiny. Seriously, I got interrupted basically every half minute). But by normal I just meant that I didn't see any strange things, or feel like something was watching me - basically, no strange happenings. And an overly energetic nine-year-old - I'm sorry, but for me, that's pretty ordinary.

I took my small group to the cafeteria, obviously, but also to the main teaching classrooms, the sports hall, the Art, Music and Drama departments, and yes, I'll admit it, at the end, the toilets. When the tour ended, I took them to the big hall. The teacher by the door - who was also my Geography teacher - Mr Jammalamadaka (and yes, I know that's, a weird name. Literally everybody at this school thinks that too. But because most of us can't pronounce it, we just call him Mr J), said, 'Thanks, Zaida. Mr and Mrs Bobofit, please come this way.'

At the door I saw Dinah again, with that girl and a woman that I presumed was her mum. When Mr J said 'Bobofit', I swear that her eyes could have literally popped out of her head, they went so wide. Then she got an excited look on her face, as if her favourite dream had come true, or her favourite book had suddenly become reality. And about that thought... later, I would realise just how right I was.

* * *

At lunch break, I didn't sit around reading funny stuff and playing games on the computer like I usually did. Today, I had some detective work to do (and just try to to tell me off for saying that asking my best friend about something is detective work. I promise you, you will not get anywhere). Dinah was known for eating lunch early, so I figured if I could find her anywhere at the beginning of lunch, it was at... well, lunch.

Sure enough, she was devouring her lunch at the speed of sound when I found her. She was so focused on eating her food, she didn't even notice me until I tapped her shoulder.

'Dinah?' I asked her.

'Yeah?'

'You know that girl that you toured?'

'Oh yeah, you mean Avira Cherlyn? What about her?'

'Well...' I started, wondered how to phrase what I was about to say properly. 'Do you know why she was acting so weirdly?'

Dinah looked confused. 'Weirdly? What do you mean, weirdly?'

'Umm... well, she was staring into the fountain saying something in the queue for the tour, and there was that time when she grinned and ran off to the Maths department, and then, with Chelsea and her parents, she overheard something and her eyes went wide and she looked exited, so I was just wondering...' I finished, trying not to sound like I was stalking her.

'So... basically, you were stalking her.' Dinah said. I resisted the urge to facepalm (and, if you've ever been in my situation before - and I mean my exact situation - you'll find that doing so it surprisingly _hard_ ). I tried to think of something to say.

'No I wasn't, I just saw her around the school, and each time I saw her she was doing something... strange.' I finally replied - and before you ask anything, yes, that was my brilliant answer. It was amazing that Dinah didn't think me crazy

'Huh... maybe that was something to do with that book she was reading. She did say she was obsessed with some series, after all.'

Ah, information. Finally. 'Did she say which series?'

'No, sorry.' Answered my weird friend.

Ah, no information. Yay.

As an afterthought, Dinah added, 'Hey, Zaida, why are you even asking all these questions?'

For once, I didn't have an answer. I didn't think about that. For a some reason I had absolutely no clue about, I had somehow become fixated on finding answers about a strange girl who I didn't even know. Besides, her acting so strangely wasn't even an excuse - not when I hang around with Dinah on a day-to-day basis. Also, there was the fact that I was me.

'I don't know... it just seems that knowing her is... important.' And as I said it I realised that, unlike most of the other things I've said today, that wasn't a lie.

So that was my last day at St Bob's High before I got involved in the world of gods and monsters. Because when I went to my Philosophy lesson the next day... my teacher had those same gold eyes.

* * *

 **A.N. Dun Dun Dun! Cliffhanger!**

 **But did you see that coming? Nancy has a little sister! As it explains in a future chapter, it never mentions that Nancy has a sister in the books, but it never says that she doesn't, either. Plus, Nancy's not the type of person who would tell Percy about her family life.**

 **Also, I have another thing for you guys to guess:** **even though Chelsea and her parents only appear this once in the whole story, they play a key role in the plot. Can you guess how? And what is the mysterious book series that Avira is obsessed with (I think you can guess that pretty easily, though** **)?**

 **Remember, this is a guess the parent chapter for Zaida. Are you up for the challenge this time?**

 **-Sylvia-Nightshade**


	4. My science teacher tries to kill me - Z

**A.N. Ok, first thing first. I am** ** _really_** **sorry for updating so late - My aim was two-week intervals, and that makes me one week and two days overdue, and to be honest, I don't have a hood excuse (apart from the fact that most of my holidays were spent binge-watching Doctor Who, but I'm not sure that excuse is enough...)**

 **I'll try to post the next chapter some time in the next two weeks, and again, I'm sorry.**

LilypawOfSkyClan **, thank you so much! It means a lot to me that people appreciate my efforts. Do you know any area where I could improve?**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own PJO, HoO or ToA, but I own the plot and my OCs.**

* * *

 **IV. My science teacher tries to kill me**

 _Zaida_

Now, don't get me wrong. I do not, I repeat, _do_ _not_ , stare into my teacher's eyes to check their colour. However, I was sure that Miss Hawkins did not have gold eyes before today. I was also pretty sure that Dinah told me she was pretty sure that our philosophy teacher had blue eyes - and before you ask, if _she_ , for some weird reason, stared into Miss Hawkins' eyes on a weekly basis, I do not know a single thing about it. Ok, I might be lying... but that's a long story. Anyway, my friend's strange that way.

The point was, I was sure my teacher wasn't wearing contacts, because she already had her glasses on. I also couldn't get that girl who wanted the doughnut out of my mind. I think her name was Anne... but I wondered if the gold-eye thing had left her and passed onto Miss Hawkins, or if it was a bit like an infection. If so, I would have to stay away from certain people, even if I got the idea that it wasn't contagious.

'Zaida? Are you daydreaming in my class again?' Asked my teacher, her gentle tone a little forced. My ideal answer would be, _sorry, but I wasn't daydreaming. I was just thinking about what would happen if you started breathing out darkness in front of the class._ However, for some reason I got the idea that following my mind's insistence wouldn't necessarily be the best thing to say.

'I'm very sorry Miss Hawkins, I promise to try not to do that again.' Was my answer instead, even though it was mostly a total lie.

'Okay, Zaida. However, you must keep your promises.' She told me in that same forced tone. Great. I wondered when the teachers would stop acting like this. I may sound crazy, but I had actually preferred school before, when the teachers were acting normally. At least then I had known that how they behaved were what they were like, and I had gotten used to it. But now... now, I didn't know when they would stop. Judging from the experiences with my teachers, it seemed like I was mistaken thinking that they were celebrating something. Now, it was almost like they were being controlled... or possessed.

I pushed that thought out of my head. Who would possess teachers? Why? Also, who would even want to possess a teacher? In my opinion, there were certainly more _interesting_ people to possess than teachers. _However_ , my guess was that the things that were behind all this did not have my opinion. Maybe they were nice things, trying to make life at school better..?

Great. More thoughts to push out of my head. Why was I jumping to these conclusions? It was probably nothing - but when I usually told myself that before, those things always turned out to not be nothing. So that must mean that there was something...

I realised what I was thinking. Yay. Even more thoughts that I was going to have to - you know what? I think I'll put an end to this now.

When I realised that I was staring out of the window, immersed in my own thoughts, _again_ , I quickly pretended to look like I was focusing on the class - and the key word was _look_ \- just before Miss Hawkins looked my way. I thanked my luck profusely in my head. See, this is why I shouldn't make promises. I mess them up. If you want to blame something, blame my dyslexia and ADHD.

Miss Hawkins did look at me, but luckily she didn't seem to be angry.

'So, Zaida, what is the answer, then?' She asked me. I was puzzled at this, before realising that while I was thinking, I had subconsciously been stretching, and right now my hand was raised. It also seemed like our teacher had just asked a question. _Well done, Zaida, that was simply the best time to stretch._

'Oh, erm...' I started, not wanting people to think me stupid. Hopefully I succeeded, but judging by that answer, I wasn't so sure.

'Should I repeat myself, Miss Verdine? I asked the class what the proper term is for something based entirely on somebody's opinion.'

I almost sighed with relief. This was one thing I actually remembered.

'Oh. The term is _subjective_ ,' I answered correctly, although I couldn't suppress a small groan. I thought philosophy was about thinking, and not just memorising words. My teacher seemed to look sharply in my direction, before realising that she was supposed to be nice. It happened so quickly that it almost couldn't be noticed, but it was there nonetheless. That was what caused me to make up my mind. If I wasn't sure whether there was something going wrong before, now I was sure of it. However, some questions remained, with the most prominent one being _why_?

At least nothing else weird, or even out of the ordinary, happened - which I _do_ admit it kinda weird, seeing as it happens to me every day, but if that was weird, that meant that the lesson I had was normal for me, but that meant that it was weird after all, and then _that_ meant that the rest of the lesson was- ok, I'll stop now. I'm even losing myself here.

It was actually surprising, how normal it all was.

My guess was that the things possessing the teachers (and yes, I really was sure of that. Sue me for jumping to conclusions, but you'll see, or read even, how it all turned out) were waiting for something... or someone.

No, not waiting.

 _Searching_.

And I could only hope that it didn't have something to do with me, or the luck I kept having, or the strange things I kept seeing.

* * *

The gold-eye-darkness-exhaling-possessing-boring-people _thing_ turned out to not be an infection after all, so it wasn't contagious, thankfully. I'm fine with my normal eye colour and breathing habits. I found that out when the ex-possessed girl (her name was Annie, actually, not Anne. My bad) ran past me, in yet another attempt to get the last doughnut - the fifth attempt in a row. Yes, call me greedy, or even obsessed, but if there's one thing you should know about me, it's that I _really_ like doughnuts. To be honest, you could probably bribe me with those things.

Oops... I really should've said that. Ok, if you're reading and you're some sort of Greek monster (which is really unlikely, but I don't care. Safety comes first), I was exaggerating. Everybody else, that was the truth, and no, if you're thinking I'm stupid for revealing this, I'm not. One of my friends makes sure that when I write these sorts of things only mortals, gods and demigods can read them. Well, I _think_ she does...

I really need to check with her later. Anyway, back to the story. When I passed Annie, I saw that her eyes were there normal colour - a dull brown, like she was constantly bored.

I couldn't blame her.

It seemed that whatever force (or forces) that was behind this decided to move to the people with who it was easy to see different pupils, those being the teachers. Huh, maybe they were sort of clever after all.

However, that just reinforced my suspicion that it was (or they were) searching for someone. Someone within the school. Even though there were hundreds of pupils at St Bob's that fell under that category, I just couldn't shake the feeling that I was a part of it, even if I didn't volunteer.

I decided to tell my dad when I got home. I thought about how he was acting strangely, and wondered if he knew what was happening, because _I_ certainly didn't.

'Hi, dad,' I said as I walked through the door into our house. My dad was sitting on one of the sofas, the one in front of the TV. He was watching something that looked like a documentary on Greek mythology. I wondered why, because he wasn't really interested in ancient history. He was more of a medicine person, but hey, what grown-ups like isn't my business. Most of the time they're either too boring to understand, or to want to understand, or they're just too random.

'Hello, Zaida,' My dad replied. I wondered why he was so tired - it wasn't like he had any urgent work to do. There were some times when he really didn't look like the doctor he was, and this was one of those days. 'Naomi's out, by the way, in case you wanted to know.'

'Ok.' Naomi was my stepmum. I didn't know why she would be out today, since today was literally the same as yesterday (apart from the thing I mentioned way to many times - aka the gold-eye thing), but as I mentioned before, grown-ups. 'I wanted to talk to you actually, dad, about... well, strange things that have been happening recently. You might think I'm crazy, and it's probably nothing, but-'

When I said _strange_ _things_ , my dad paled instantly. 'What sort of things?' He tried to hide his nervousness, but I could see that he was scared.

'Just general weird things. Do they even matter?'

'Zaida, please tell me. This is important.' He replied, serious.

'Why?'

'It just is.' Seeing my puzzled look at him not explaining anything - he usually went on and on when I asked him even the simplest of questions - he carried on, 'Before your mother left, she warned me about situations like this. I promise you, Zaida, I will not think you crazy.'

This left me confused. My dad _never_ talked about my mother, and the fact that he mentioned her hinted at the fact that this really was important. Additionally, there was something else... I thought my mum had died. Not left, like my father had just told me.

However, as I was about to ask about this, the sound of keys were heard in the doorway - it was probably Naomi coming home. I didn't know is she knew about the crazy things that were happening to me like my dad did, but judging by his rushed manner, she probably didn't.

'Just... be alert, ok? Tell me if anything else happens. Don't relax at your school, even for a moment. Always be prepared. Because I think they have finally realised who they are, and that means that they are coming for you.'

With that, my dad rushed to greet my stepmother, and I was left alone. I remembered how worried my dad seemed.

 _Don't relax, even for a moment. Be alert. When your mum left._

Random snippets of our conversation bounced around in my head like those balls in a gum machine.

 _This is important. I will not think you crazy. It just is._

His unusual manner - his seriousness, his fear, his refusal to explain things properly. The impression that this was like nothing that had happened in my life before, and in a bad way.

 _They are coming for you._

As each comment finally settled into my head, I realised that my father thought that this was life or death.

And I had started to believe him.

* * *

Fortunately or unfortunately, the next few weeks were uneventful. Nobody made any kind of move to hint that something was out of the ordinary. Nothing happened to endanger me. It got so much like the days before all this creepy stuff started (which basically meant _boring_ \- that was the reason it might have been unfortunate) that I almost let my guard down.

Almost.

But I couldn't forget that scared yet serious look in my usually laid-back dad's eyes, nor could I forget the words that had been spoken. That was the reason that, even thought everything seemed normal at a first glance, there was still a - how to put it - _different_ aura about the school, which had been there ever since the day of the tour. I couldn't relax. I needed to stay alert.

Sadly, even if I knew that there was a threat, I didn't know what that threat _was_ , and that defeated the whole point of trying to find out information on what I could have been facing. Not that I really could have anyway - the school computers were absolutely useless, and the books in the library were laid out so messily it was a wonder that people could still find anything in it. I sometimes thought idly whether somebody had ever actually bothered to arrange the library in the 108 years of the school's history.

I also wondered what would have happened if Naomi hadn't come home so quickly. Would my dad have explained in more detail? Somehow, I doubted it. I figured that he thought it was important to let me find out myself, but how I was supposed to do that, I didn't know.

However, at one point, things obviously had to start going wrong (and if you didn't know already, that is basically Rule Number One of being a demigod, and yes, we _do_ have rules). That _point_ just happened to be in a chemistry lesson (well, straight after it, anyway) when we were doing an experiment involving the pH scale and our whole class was surrounded by dangerous chemicals. Our chemistry teacher - Mr Imach - was the third teacher to get possessed and he, like the others, didn't do anything really suspicious until... ok, I think you already guessed (because I said already). That lesson.

The lesson itself went ok. We were testing the different properties of acids and alkali, and since we actually doing something active in the lesson, it was easier for me to focus. I was paired up with a girl called Fiona, who I didn't really know but she was nice enough. We did well enough in the tasks we were supposed to do... but really, I could go on about that all day and not get anywhere, because that wasn't important.

No, what was important was what happened after the class had finished.

At the end of the lesson, Mr Imach called me to his desk. At the time, I didn't know why. Maybe it was something to do with me not focusing enough in my lessons, or there was some bad news to do with me or my family - but it was none of those those things. It was worse. The short answer? My teacher wanted to kill me.

Before anybody says anything, yes, I mean that quite literally. I don't mean that it was some sort of punishment, or anything to do with my progress in school or my general school life (well, considering it _was_ something to do with my school life - because of the killing at school- you could say that I was wrong to put that, but if you think that feel free to put the emphasis on _general_ ); and so what if it wasn't the actual teacher but the thing controlling him?

I had been waiting for something bad to happen the last three weeks - not that I wanted it to, I was just bracing myself - but I hadn't expected it to be _this_ bad. I was about to exit the classroom, not caring about whether I had been summoned by my teacher or not - when I noticed that all the other teachers who had been possessed had gathered, staring at me with those gold eyes, at the doorway. The strange thing was, their eyes looked almost identical - exactly the same shade, and with no emotion showing. That in itself was enough to creep me out, but no, they just had to start walking towards me, simultaneously, as well. Out of all the teachers, I recognised the headmaster Mr Bombels, the maths teacher Miss Darkin, and even the old Geography teacher, Mrs Hacttie (plus a few others), all driven by that strange force. I didn't understand what was going on, but one thing seemed clear. For the last few weeks they hadn't been lazing around, or waiting, or just trying to make life at school better - they had been planning. Planning what to with me.

And what made things even worse was that I just couldn't figure out _why_.

However, I didn't have time to ponder my thoughts, because right at that moment Mr Imach said, 'Zaida Verdine. You have hidden all these years, but we have found you. Now you will die.'

I wanted to protest. What had I ever done wrong? What did he - or was he an it now - mean by hiding? Why were the teachers after _me_ , of all people?

'What do you mean, Zaida? You should know that we will not answer those questions. It might make your scent stronger, but it would also make you harder to kill.'

 _How did the creature know what I was thinking_? For a moment, I wondered whether the thing that used to be my teacher could read my mind, before realising that I said my thoughts out loud. Yay.

'I- sorry, I didn't mean to say those out loud.' I quickly said, hoping to make things better.

Unfortunately, I did not make things better, because just then the teachers took out their weapons - and since when did teachers carry weapons, anyway? Most of them had swords, but one or two carried knives, but they were all glinting bronze.

So, to sum it up, on one side there were several completely mental teachers with medieval weapons, and on the other? Just me.

 _Always be prepared_ , my dad had said. I desperately scanned my surroundings to see what I could use to at least give me a fighting chance, and then I remembered that I was in a science lab. There were piles upon piles of dangerous chemicals around me. Despite my situation, I felt the tiniest glimmer of hope - because those monsters, even with all their planning, had chosen the _worst_ place to attack me, and I would make the most of their stupidity.

Before the first possessed teacher could strike, I grabbed a glass vial of acid that had one of those 'Warning! Corrosive' signs, and threw it at Mr Imach without a second thought. I heard a scream and maybe the sound of wind, and when I looked back there was nothing but a few bits of shattered glass, and... was that dust? Where did that come from?

 _These are not my teachers_ , I reminded myself. _They're not in control._

However, just as I was about to congratulate myself, another of my ex-teachers lunged at me. I managed to dodge, sending the possessed philosophy teacher tumbling into a rack of test tubes, but when I looked at my arm, there was still a little scratch.

However, then two more teachers came at me out of nowhere nowhere from either side of me, wanting to kill me, and this time the vials of acid were too far away. I knew dodging was hopeless. I could do nothing, but I didn't want to die. I didn't do anything to cause this!

I had given up hope when I saw something on the floor, catching the sunlight and reflecting it in my eyes. Mr Imach's old sword! Having no other options, I picked it up and did the only thing I could do in that moment; I swung it. It passed through the teacher on my left and turned her to dust. Seeing my chance and with adrenaline coursing through my veins, I sprinted as fast as I could towards the spot where she had been standing the moment before, where the way was now clear.

Then I heard somebody's voice. To be precise, my best friend's voice. Calling my name.

'Zaida? Zaida, are you there? Could you come out soon maybe?'

Of all the times to call me.

'Dinah, I can't, I'm...' I trailed off. What word described my current situation? I had a feeling that _I'm preoccupied with my teachers trying to kill me_ wouldn't get a positive reaction from Dinah - she would either be worried for me or for my mental health. '...busy' I finished, jumping out of the way of a sword. Inwardly I laughed bitterly. _Busy_ was the understatement of the century. 'Could you maybe- '

Then the door to the classroom opened. I grimaced, not knowing how my friend would react. Dinah's eyes took in the scene in front of her - the shattered glass, the dust, me holding a sword, and lastly, the crazy possessed teachers.

'Zaida, what on earth is happening here?' She asked me, trying to stay calm, but I could see her panic.

'Umm, well... stuff.' Was my brilliant answer. As an afterthought (and after seeing a knife being thrown towards me), I added, 'Now, duck. DUCK!'

The knife missed us by half a centimetre.

'What is a mortal doing here?' The thing that possessed my headteacher asked menacingly.

'A clear-sighted one, too.' The old Geography teacher said.

'Clear sighted? What do you mean by that?' I asked, while Dinah exclaimed,

'What, did you think I couldn't see you?' Given the situation, I had to admire her bravery - although provoking the monsters might not have been the smartest choice.

'Why would we answer those questions?' Hissed my philosophy teacher, recovering from her daze she had gotten from tumbling into the racks of glass tubes.

'Oh, please just get _out_ of here, Dinah!' I shouted, slicing my ex-headmaster into dust. Three down, three to go.

'No!'

'Then help me!'

'Stupid demigod, if she picks up a sword, it will just pass straight through her.' One of the monsters said.

'Yeah, but it's got to have some sort of grip, hasn't it!'

'No, Zaida.' Dinah pleaded, 'Please no. I'm sorry, but I just can't... I can't do this. They're still people.'

'No, they are not. The things possessing them have completely taken over, and I'm sorry. But if you're not going to help, get behind me! Or just... do anything! The weapons can't hurt you, anyway!' I shouted, seeing Dinah's finger pass straight through a blade. At least she wouldn't get hurt. Unfortunately, I couldn't say the same about myself.

I threw another vial of acid at Miss Darkin, who was charging at me, her knife held out in front of them, and I started to get the situation the things possessing my teachers were in. Sure, they could make the teachers fight, but the teachers had no experience fighting. There were completely untrained. Of course, I was completely untrained too, but I wasn't going to say that. Plus, my instincts were protecting me.

Sadly, this was not the case with the teacher who attacked me from behind, who I had just recognised as the fencing coach, Mr Cosley. Of course the... _things_ had chosen to possess him. They might have been cleverer than I had originally thought - they wanted to wait until I let my guard down just that little bit, and then attack me with a trained fighter. Unluckily for them, my dad gave me a warning - which I remembered - and I wasn't going to let my guard down. I made a mental note (even if, for me, those are _not_ very reliable) to thank him if I got home. No, why was I thinking like this? _When_ I got home. However, it was kind of hard to think positively in a fight with a fencing coach - oh yeah, and it was a fight to the death. Almost forgot that, sorry. Was anybody else in my situation and able to think positively? No? Yeah, thought so.

'Zai- Zaida..?' Dinah's panicked voice broke my train of thought, and my bus of concentration (and who cares if that's not a proper phrase, I'm still going to use it, so there's no use complaining). I risked looking away from my own fight for a second, and nearly froze at what I saw. It was lucky I didn't, otherwise I would be a kebab, but the scene in front of me...

My statement about Dinah not being able to get hurt might have been wrong. Mrs Hacttie realised that Dinah couldn't be touched by the weapons, but my teacher was pulling a me - Dinah could still be hurt by acid. And the old, old teacher was standing over Dinah with a vial of the said substance in her hand, cackling like one of those crazy evil grannies you see in movies sometimes. I didn't know why the possessed teachers wanted to kill her, too, but a cold feeling in my bones told me that it was something to do with... well, me. Dinah was my best friend here at St Bob's High, so hurting her badly, or killing her, would hurt me mentally.

Anger filled me, and part of it was because I couldn't do anything to help Dinah, because of my own _stupid_ fight. I needed all my focus to prevent me from being sliced to pieces, but out of the very corner of my eye I could still see the acid vial tilting... and tilting... and tilting...

Then, at the moment I was sure the acid was going to spill, I heard the sound of a bowstring being released. A split second later, an arrow replaced my Geography teacher, just as I finally managed to turn the fencing coach to dust.

I was really, really confused about what had just happened, and by the look on Dinah's face, so was she.

That was when I heard the sigh of relief coming from the doorway, noticed the figure standing there - and recognised her.

It was the girl from the tour.

'Hi,' she said, 'Now, I think we should run!'

* * *

 **A.N. So, I hope you liked the (late) update! Also, I don't know whether the bodies eidolons possess explode into dust like normal monsters, or whether they just die, so sorry if it's inaccurate - I decided to do it this way so that Zaida didn't have to explain lots of dead bodies in the classroom...**

 **Again, please** **tell me what I can do better in this story, and thanks for reading!**

 **-SylviaNightshade**


	5. Real books and phone problems - A

**A.N. Yes, I know I said two weeks... and it's been two months. Plus, I don't even have an excuse. I am** ** _really_** **,** ** _really_** **sorry, but I just want to make one thing clear; I am not, and will not, give up on this story, no matter how long it takes for me to update. To be honest, I've pretty much given up on regular updates, because the later I say I'll update, the larger the gap becomes between the deadline I have set for myself, and when I actually update. I don't want to give anyone false hope.**

 **Also, please review - I want to know how I can make this story better, or just to see people commenting about who you think the godly parents are and stuff like that. I'm aiming for at least three for this chapter.**

 **Also, A is for Avira, and that brings the narrator-cycle to an end. For those of you who are upset that there are no male narrators, there _is_ a main male character in this, and he will have his PoV in the next book (this is going to be a 'series' of four books).**

 **Anyway, enough rambling. Everyone has waited long enough for the next chapter, and I won't keep you any longer.**

 **Disclaimer: Sadly, I do not own PJO, HoO or ToA, but I do own the plot and my OCs.**

* * *

 **V. Real books and phone problems**

 _Avira_

I had been chased by monsters ever since I arrived in America for that stupid school tour. Over the last few days, I'd had hardly any sleep, almost no food, and I needed to make do with whatever shelter I could find; and I didn't know if this was wrong or not... but inside me, there was still a tiny smile.

Because even with all the danger, even with all the monsters, I knew one thing for certain. The world of my favourite book series in the universe was real - and that was enough to keep me going. Of course, knowing all those things from the books _had_ made it easier for the monsters to find me, and ever since I found out that Chelsea girl's surname - and I know that the surname could have just been a coincidence, but she looked so much like the description of Nancy that the whole thing just couldn't have been - I had basically been a walking target. Yes, I know, the first part of _The Lightning Thief_ said not to carry on reading if you felt something stirring inside you, but it was a good book. Also, the books have helped me. Reading them, and knowing about the world of Greek Mythology, has played a big part in keeping me alive (and, yes, I probably sound like Annabeth right now, but I don't care. Plus, that's a good thing). So when I discovered that there was probably a demigod at St Bob's High, and that usually meant monsters too, I tried to help. Unfortunately, even with all that information, I did not know how to explain five missing teachers and a headmaster to school authorities.

'What... what were those things?' The girl, Zaida, asked me, running.

'Eidolons. Sort of like possessing spirits from Greek Mythology. Honestly, the whole thing would've been so much easier if Piper was here,' I told her, thinking about how it would have been so much easier to bring myself to kill some possessing spirits if they weren't in the bodies of living things. It wasn't the living things' fault that they'd been possessed. To be honest, I don't see how Zaida could have made herself do what she did - if it was me instead of here there, I'd keep seeing them as my own teachers until it was already too late. Oh, how I wished they'd possessed a towel or something, like when they'd possessed two suits of armour and an Archimedes sphere.

I had been really relieved when they'd turned to dust and not... left their stolen bodies lying around. _Wait... does that mean the bodies reformed in Tartarus as well, or would it just be the actual eidolons that re-formed_?I pushed that question out of my head. As much as I'd have liked to find the answer, I really don't think going to Tartarus just to find out would be worth it. Plus, that thought could wait. 'But she wasn't, so-'

'Who's Piper?'

'A character... from a book...' _That's_ _actually_ _real_ , I wanted to say, but I decided otherwise.

Zaida gave me a weird look, but didn't question me about my answer. 'But those spirits, those eidolon things, why were they after me?'

I contemplated whether I should give her the short answer, or the long one. 'Because you're a demigod.' I decided to answer. 'Also, you're not supposed to say monsters' names - they have power.'

'Umm... ok, but what do you mean by demigod?'

'Half-god, half-human.'

'So you mean Zaida's half-' this came from Dinah, the clear-sighted mortal who was Zaida's friend, and the person who had toured me. I felt sorry for her, getting caught up in scenarios she wasn't even supposed to be part of.

'Yes. Sorry for the rush, but we're - or at least Zaida and I are - not safe here anymore. You, on the other hand, can go home when you want to, but please don't talk about this to anybody else because it would mean a lot of unnecessary explaining, and I mean a lot. I know this is a bad time, but now that Zaida's been discovered, she needs to get to Camp Half-Blood as quickly as possible. And I'm sorry, but there are magical borders around the camp that prevent monsters and mortals from coming in, so... they'll prevent you from entering.'

'Camp Half-Blood?' Zaida asked.

'A safe place for demigods.'

'How do you know I'm one of them?'

I realised that I was probably explaining things too quickly, and that Zaida and Dinah didn't really have time to process all the new information.

'I'm sorry, again, but... has anything strange ever happened to you in your life? Something that couldn't really be explained?' Zaida nodded. 'You probably have ADHD and dyslexia too, and I'm guessing that one of your parents left when you were born.'

She paled. 'How do you know all those things about me?'

'I already told you, Zaida. It's because you're a demigod. The reason that one of your parents left is because they're a god, or a goddess. Your ADHD keeps you alive in battle, like it did now, and your dyslexia is caused because your mind is hardwired for Ancient Greek - or Latin, you could be Roman. I know there's a lot of information to take in, and trust me, nobody really wants to be caught up in these things, but it's the best I can do. Chiron would probably have explained better.'

'But how do you know these things? Have you ever been at that camp?'

'No... if you want the truth, it's actually something to do with a book series I'm obsessed with...' I smiled sheepishly.

'So you want me to follow you to a place that's apparently safe, but you've actually only ever heard about in a book, and that might not even be real.'

'Basically, yes.' I spread my hands helplessly. 'But I'm the only source of information you have, so it's that, or nothing. Besides, I got this bow from a location described in a book, and it's right here, so there must be at least some truth in it. Although... how old are you?'

'Why are you asking personal questions at a time like this? But if you want the answer, I'm 14.'

'Yeah, I thought something like that. And that means that your parent, whoever they are, is overdue claiming you. The Olympians swore an oath to claim their children when they turned 13... but then again, I don't know whether the minor gods and goddess swore it too, so your could be one of them.' I thought for a few seconds. 'You know the strange things you were talking about?'

Zaida nodded. 'Yeah?'

'What sorts of things were they?'

She considered the question. 'Well, mainly a few sightings of creepy stuff,' _The_ _monsters_ , I thought, 'and my luck. For example, once I fell off a cliff and ended up with only a few scratches, and there was also when me and my dad - or my dad and I, whatever - visited the St Louis Arch, and there was this explosion that burnt it and cut off the elevator, and it happened just as we had got off it... and I also thought I saw this monster thing on top...'

'What?!' I exclaimed, too quickly to stop myself. The way Zaida described it, it sounded like the fight between Percy and the Chimera - and actually, when I thought about it, that seemed quite likely. Zaida _had_ done the tour for Nancy Bobofit's sister, after all. Yes, I know I saw her too, but that wasn't proper _interacting_. And now I found out that Zaida witnessed one of the main events in _The_ _Lightning_ _Thief_ as well, and she hadn't even read the books.

'Yeah, I know, it sou-' She started.

'You really _are_ lucky...' I mumbled under my breath. By do no so, I missed some of her explanation.

'-id happen. Oh yeah, and I frequently guess answers to my tests at school, and get them right.'

'You'd better not mention that to Annabeth if we meet her.'

I told her.

'Who's Annabeth?'

'Oh... never mind.' I motioned at Zaida to go on. 'Just... don't.'

'So, why are you asking me this?' Said Zaida, trying to change the subject. She succeeded, but only just.

'I'm trying to find out who your godly parent is.'

'And have you? Found out, I mean?'

'Well, I have an idea, but I don't know if you're Greek or Roman.'

'Are you kidding me...' Zaida replied, exasperated.

'Yes, obviously.' I said. She looked at me, and I continued, 'No, of course not. Because if there are Greek gods, why not Roman? Just to make the mythological world more complicated... Of course, it _does_ explain in the books...'

'Yeah, you keep going on about the books, the books, and the books. Will you ever stop?'

'Do you want the honest answer?' I asked Zaida. She nodded. 'Probably not. Sorry. I can try, but I can't guarantee that my attempts will be successful, because I am _seriously_ obsessed, and now that I know the books are real, I can't help making references.'

Ok, before anybody says anything, I _know_ I've said sorry about four times so far. To the same people. But that doesn't mean I mean it any less.

'You do realise, you've said sorry about four ti-'

'I know. So?'

It seemed like Zaida liked giving me weird looks, because she did just that, again. 'Anyway, about that camp you were talking about...' I realised that Zaida really needed lessons on how to change the subject in a conversation.

'Yeah, what about it?'

'Well...' Zaida seemed nervous about something. 'When I go... will I have to stay there forever? It's just that my family is nice, and also my friends are nice,' I saw Zaida's eyes moving in Dinah's direction when she said that, 'and even though I really hate school and the teachers and stuff, I don't really want to leave, so even if it is a safe place I-'

'Ok, first of all, _calm_ _down_. You can choose to stay year-round, but you don't have to; although if you want to go there during the day and miss school, I don't think you can.'

Zaida frowned, but looked relieved. 'How did you know I was thinking that?'

'I guessed. Also, you didn't exactly make it a secret that you hated school.'

'She hates school, but loves the school doughnuts.' Dinah finally spoke up, for the first time in ages.

'Well, can you blame me? One, they're literally the only part of the school food that doesn't make me feel sick, so at school I literally _live_ off them, and secondly - They. Are. _Doughnuts_.'

'Hello, Blackjack.' I said sarcastically, under my breath, comparing Zaida with the doughnut-loving pegasus.

'...Who?' Asked Zaida and Dinah at the same time.

'Oh, never mind. You all know what I'm referring to.'

They groaned.

'Just remember, if there are any doughnuts at Camp,' I continued, 'don't steal them, or eat them without anybody knowing. A certain pegasus might be angry.'

'Are you kidding me...' Zaida pouted, before she comprehended the full meaning of my words. 'Wait... a pegasus?'

'Multiple, actually. You've got to have mythical creatures if you have mythical beings, right?'

'I guess...'

Thinking about something, Zaida looked around. We were far ahead of the school by now, and we were panting from the continuous running (and talking, which to be honest wasn't making it any better, but I needed to explain this at some point, right? Besides, it was better for it to be sooner rather than later).

'Hang on, where did you say this camp was, again?' She asked. I didn't bother to correct her that I didn't say where it was at all.

'Oh... somewhere near the tip of Long Island, I think.'

'Well, that's very descriptive.' Zaida, deadpanned, but it was Dinah who pointed out the real problem.

'Wait a second... where are we now?' We all checked our surroundings. Road, building, building, café, building, skyscraper, building, Zaida, lamppost, building, Dinah, building. I didn't recognise them (apart from the two said people) - however, that was probably obvious, since I was from England - but I was hoping that at least one of the others would. Unfortunately, it seemed quite clear that nobody in our little group had ever been here before.

'...I have no idea.' I said.

Zaida and Dinah looked at each other. They seemed to be having a mental conversation. Then they looked at me.

'I though you were _leading_ us somewhere!' Zaida exclaimed.

'How could I be leading _you_ somewhere? I've never even been to America before!'

'Well, how were we supposed to know that? You were supposed to be the one with all the answers!'

'I didn't say I had all the answers, did I?!'

We were silent for a moment. Then...

'Does anybody at least have any money so that we can take the tube - or subway, whatever - anywhere?'

'Umm...'

'Er...'

And that's how we got lost, with no money and no way of getting anywhere, in the middle of New York.

* * *

'I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, why was I so stupid?' I muttered to myself, pacing the pavement. Fortunately - but how, I have no idea, and though I figured that it was something to do with Zaida's exceptional luck, I couldn't be sure - nobody else was on the street with us. If somebody was, they would think we were crazy.

Zaida and Dinah were equally annoyed, although instead of being angry at me (like I was), they were actually doing something productive - in this case, looking for a sign or something else that would tell us where we were. Seeing that I wasn't really doing anything at all, I decided to try and help.

'Hey, over here!' Somebody's voice shattered the (relative) silence that had dawned over us. I realised that the voice was Dinah's, coming from about four streets away. I ran over to her direction - where there was something so ordinary, yet so amazing to us at the same time. A 'you are here' sign.

However, when we looked at it, all hope of being near where we needed to be was lost.

'Are you kidding me... that's got to be at least two miles from my house...' Dinah groaned.

'How close is it to the camp you keep talking about?' Zaida asked, running to us from around the corner.

'I don't actually know, but it's definitely not close by. I suggest we drop you off at your house first though, Dinah, even if it is quite a long walk. It's definitely closer, but we should hurry. I don't know how long we've been running, or lost, but- '

'Yeah, I don't know either, but look at the sky...' True to Zaida's words, the sun was already starting to set.

'I'd say about 40 minutes until it sets completely.' Said Dinah thoughtfully.

'Yeah, we should definitely hurry...' I murmured to myself.

* * *

It took about half an hour to get to Dinah's house, which, according to Dinah's calculations, left around ten minutes until the sun set. It was already starting to disappear behind the skyscrapers, which was bad news for us, since it would take a _lot_ longer than that to get to Camp.

'Ok. So, you said the camp was at the tip of Long Island, right?' Asked Zaida after we had dropped Dinah off, interrupting my thoughts.

'...right.' I replied, not knowing where this was going.

'Well, you see, there's more than one tip of here. It's an _island_. So can you explain in any more detail, or...' She trailed off.

'I don't know,' I started, before realising something. Recently, I had been re-reading The Lightning Thief. I hadn't taken it out of the small bag I put it in to carry it around in case I got really bored during the school tour (although somebody else might have taken it out, but I tried to think positive). On the night I had left the hotel, I remembered taking that same bag with me. Which meant that if I, not Zaida, was lucky for once, if I was very very lucky...

'Avira, what are you doing? You have a strange look in your eyes, like you had an idea or something.' Zaida told me.

I ignored her. I took my bag off from my shoulder, and this time, instead of looking for food or water or other stuff I had put in there, I was looking for a book. When I didn't find it after maybe two minutes of rummaging, I started to worry that it wasn't there. At that moment, my hand hit something hard.

'Please, please, please,' I mumbled to myself, hoping that it was the book.

Fortunately, it was the book. If it wasn't, I don't know what we would have done. Sure, it was barely recognisable - completely dirty and even torn in some places - but it was definitely a copy of The Lightning Thief. Which meant that if I could find the right page-

'... _What_ is _that_?' Zaida asked, ruining my moment of triumph.

It was my turn to give _her_ a weird look. 'Are you kidding me? I've been going on about this for ages, you've been complaining because I've been going on about this for ages...'

I stopped talking when Zaida said, 'Oh. Sorry, I just thought that it would be... you know, tidier. If you like it so much, I mean.'

I turned to face her, exasperated. 'I've been running for about two weeks, not even knowing that this book was there, and now I'm getting it out to help us, and your only comment is, _I_ _thought_ _it_ _would_ _be_ _tidier_.' I turned back to the book, continuing to flick through its pages.

'Well, I di-'

'Yes! Here is is!' I exclaimed happily. On the page in front of me was the part of the book where Grover showed Percy his Camp Half-Blood address card;

 _Grover_ _Underwood_ ,

 _Keeper_

(Although those parts weren't really important)

 _Half_ - _Blood_ _Hill_

 _Long Island, New York_

 _(800)009-0009_

'How are we supposed to know where Ha-' Zaida started, but I interrupted her, and tapped the bottom of the address.

'Phone number.'

'Oh...' Understanding dawned on her face.

'But I'm not completely sure whether it's a private phone number or the camp one - or whether satyrs also attract monsters when they use phones so I don't even know if Grover would even have a private phone...'

'Camp one,' Replied Zaida automatically, breaking me out of my (voiced) train of thought.

'What?'

'You said you weren't sure if the phone number was whoever-he-was' or the camp's. Well, it's the camp's.'

'How do you know that?' I asked her. Yes, I know it was obvious that she knew more about how things were done in America than I did, and I did trust her, but I wanted to make it absolutely certain.

Zaida, however, didn't really help with that much.

'Seriously? I thought everyone in America knew about the phone numbers.'

'...I'm from the UK.' I pointed out.

'Yeah, and I moved here from Australia about four weeks ago, and started school two and a half weeks ago, and I still needed to learn about the beginnings of phone numbers and whatnot.'

'On holiday.'

Zaida raised an eyebrow. 'In the middle of term.'

'Fine, a sort-of holiday and a school tour. But nothing that really needed phone numbers.'

'Well, basically, the ones with 800 at the beginning are usually for a company, or an organisation. That's all you need to know for now. You can find out the rest in your own time.'

'Yeah, about that... demigods plus phones equals bad. Really bad-' I trailed off as the nature of our situation dawned on me. Zaida realised what that meant at the same time.

'But that means...'

'We won't be able to call them.' I clarified. 'So unless you fancy another trip to Dinah or someone, we're pretty much screwed.'

'It's not that hopeless then.' Zaida replied. 'Let's go to Dinah's... again.'

'What? No!... I was only using that as an example...' I tried to explain, but Zaida was already running. She turned and looked at me.

'Never mind that. Come on!'

 _Oh, well. Better to have an idea that will probably fail than to have no idea at all, I thought, and followed her._

* * *

Luckily, we didn't wander far from Dinah's house. Zaida and I looked at each other, and she went up to the house and rang the doorbell. I heard something that sounded like a man's voice shouting, 'Well, go on and open it, Dinah! I wouldn't want to wait all day. I already wasted half of today waiting for you to come back from that school of yours - and I still haven't heard a reason from you why that happened, but it'd better be a good one, young lady, otherwise I might take you out of St Bob's -' _Like it won't close down anyway_ ,'and why are you just standing there? Open it!'

Near the door, Zaida grimaced, and I felt like she'd met the source of that voice a few times before, and was _not_ on good terms with the man I suspected to be Dinah's dad. From the way he acted, I didn't think I would be either. Even now, he sort of reminded me of Gabe.

The door opened.

'Sorry about that,' Dinah said from the doorway. 'He's in a bit of a bad mood- wait, Zaida? What are you doing here again?'

'He's always in a bad mood,' Zaida groaned, 'So there's no need to say sorry for it. And we're here because we need your help.'

'Oh, not _her_.' The voice complained. 'Don't let _her_ come in.'

Yep, definitely not on good terms.

'Yeah, maybe it would be better if we didn't come in…' Zaida told Dinah. 'Your dad would think I'm crazy.'

Dinah stepped outside and closed the door behind her. 'Like he doesn't already. Anyway, what sort of help?'

'We need you to make a phone call.' Zaida said.

This was almost certainly not the answer Dinah had expected. Oh, who am I kidding? Scratch the _almost_. She was definitely not expecting that.

She raised an eyebrow. 'Why? I mean, I'll do it, but why?'

'Well, the only way we would actually know where we need to go is to call where we need to go and it just so happens that demigods can't use phones.' I explained, stepping into Dinah's line of sight.

'Oh, you're here too? Well, I guess I shouldn't be surprised.'

'Please could you just call, though? I don't mean to interrupt anyone or anything, but I'm getting a bit cold, and everyone else here probably is too...' Zaida cut in.

'Yeah, now that you mention it...'

'So what's the number I need to call, then?' Asked Dinah.

'800-009-0009.' I replied. Dinah got out her phone, and started dialling the number.

'Here goes nothing,' I said to myself, and crossed my fingers.

'Put it on loudspeaker,' suggested Zaida. Dinah did just that, and we all waited for somebody, anybody, to answer.

Finally, I heard a, 'Hello?' Coming from the phone.

'Hi...' Dinah nervously said.

'This is Camp Half-Blood. Why are you calling?' We all exchanged a look of triumph.

'Well... umm... I have some friends who are demigods, and they need to get to the camp, and apparently they can't use phones.' Dinah replied. 'My friend also just got attacked by possessing monster things-' She looked at me for help.

'I can't say their names without attracting their attention.' I told her, and motioned for her to carry on.

'So they need to get there quickly, and they're kind of lost - well, not lost, but they don't know how to get to the camp.' She continued.

'Ok. Where are you right now?'

'Just say the name of that station over there,' Zaida pointed to a nearby bus - or Greyhound, whatever - stop. 'We'll walk there. I don't think your dad would be happy to if a who-knows-what knocks on his front door.'

I heard a bush rustle nearby.

'My friends are-'

'Wait,' I interrupted, whispering. I turned in the direction of the sound. It could've just been the wind, but over the past few weeks I had learned to be suspicious - especially now when we were near a phone in use. Also, I couldn't feel any wind. 'I'm just going to go over there. I think there might be something.'

They gave me a puzzled look. 'Something bad,' I added.

Dinah's next words were lost to me as I crept towards the bush. I looked, but I couldn't see anything. Which gave us three possible scenarios. Firstly, there could just be nothing there (which I _really_ hoped was the case, but which was very unlikely) and I was just being paranoid. Secondly, there was something there that wasn't a monster and that was tiny, or had a burrow there or something like that. Thirdly, a monster was there, and it was hiding from us, waiting (which was probably the case).

'Ok. I'll send a satyr to you. We'll be about seven minutes.' I heard the voice from the phone say.

'Thanks,' Dinah said, and then hung up.

'Thank you,' I said to Dinah, 'but we'd better get going. I still think there might be something on those bushes.'was

'So, I guess this is goodbye?' Asked Dinah, sadly.

'For now.' Zaida told her. 'I promise, I'll - we'll - come back.'

We started walking towards the station, waving Dinah goodbye. She waved back, and then turned and went inside.

I quickened my pace. 'We should really hurry,' I said to Zaida. 'I have a feeling like something's watching me.'

'So do I, actually, but I thought I was being paranoid.' We looked at each other, and started running away from the house. Nervous as I was, though, I still had my bow and arrows - and I was finally going to the place I had wished I could go to since I was nine years old.

 _Camp Half-Blood_ , I thought, _I am coming._

* * *

 **A.N. I'm really sorry if I made any mistakes in this chapter (concerning American things), but please remember that I'm fron England. Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter! And remember, please, _please_ review. You never know, it might make my update faster... :3**

 **Btw, since there are basically no clues towards Avira's godly parent, this will not be a 'guess the parent' chapter. The next one will be.**

 **-SylviaNightshade**


	6. A small snake almost kills me - A

**A.N. Chapter 6 is finally here!**

 **Again, sorry for the long wait, but my creativity had decided to go on holiday, so... well, the new update's here now, and that's all that matters.**

 **URGENT NOTICE FOR THE READERS WHO READ CHAPTERS 2 AND 5 BEFORE THE 18TH MARCH 2019: I've updated said chapters (namely the taxi sequence in Chapter 2, and the beginning and the middle-close-to-end of Chapter 5). Hopefully they're better now!**

 **Also, I've put up a poll about whether or not Coral should have a middle name or not. Please answer the question (the poll is on my profile)!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own PJO, I only own my OCs and the plot.**

* * *

 **VI. A small snake almost kills me**

 _Avira_

Oh, how lucky I had thought we were. Oh, how lucky we were not. I guess that sometimes even Zaida's luck can't cancel out the bad luck we get daily from being demigods. Why am I saying this?

Well, think back to when I thought I heard rustling. While we were waiting for the satyr to lead us to Camp Half-Blood, we found out what that rustling was. And guess what? Surprise, surprise, it was a monster.

A monster... that none of the books actually mentioned. Well, I don't think they did, but if that's the case, then I guess I'll just need to look through them again for a metre-long snake with _four_ _wiggling_ _horns_ , two of which were gigantic.

Basically, I'm pretty sure it was never part of the books.

'What is _that_?' Zaida exclaimed, staring at the snake that had just emerged from the bush I'd heard rustling from. The snake which just so happened to be making its way towards us, really quickly.

'Well, judging by how it's looking at us, I'd say it's a type of monster.'

'Well, do you know which one?

'...No.' I replied nervously, staring at it, still hoping, in vain, to recognise it.

'What? You're supposed to know all about Greek Mythology!'

'You just assumed that. Not every single thing is mentioned in the books!'

'I guess that's true - but... if that's the case, can we not waste our time, and see how we can defeat it?'

'Yeah. Sorry for being all argumentative today, too... I don't know what's got into me... and defeating it will be fine.' Seeing Zaida's worried look, I wondered to myself how strange it was that I was comforting a girl who was two (although close to one) years older than me. When we were running from the school and calling Camp Half-Blood, I noticed that Zaida was older, but we were much too pre-occupied for me to find the time to think about it... which reminded me that, in reality, there was a monster chasing us _right_ _now_. Why was I even thinking like this at a time like this?

Zaida still looked doubtful, so I added, 'You won against five spirits possessing your teachers with just vials of hydrochloric acid. A snake with horns will be fi- wo-oo-ah!' I shouted, loosing my balance as the snake rammed into my leg. With its horns. Which hurt.

We really shouldn't have got distracted.

'Ow,' I muttered as I got up.

'Are you ok?' Zaida asked me.

'Well, the place where the snake's horns bashed into me hurts, but apart from that, I'm fine. That doesn't mean that I want to experience that again, though.' She nodded, and my eyes widened as I saw the snake rushing towards her. Before I had time to shout a warning, it had ploughed into Zaida. By some miracle, or maybe her luck, she managed to stay standing, but still gingerly rubbed her leg.

'I can see what you mean by not wanting to experience that again...' She told me. I nodded.

'If we don't want to, though, we'd better not relax and get distracted. You saw how that turned out last time.'

'Which means, we shouldn't be _talking_ , we should be _looking_.' Zaida looked at me pointedly, before turning away to look for the, now hidden, monster.

'Good point. Ok, where is it, where is it...' I murmured to myself, looking around, but not seeing the snake around anywhere. Then, out of nowhere, a strong gust of wind blew towards a row of bushes, and stopped just as suddenly at it had started - which I found strange, because in my experience, the wind usually built up before blowing strongly, and stopped gradually.

Remembering not to think about this in case I got distracted (which was actually harder than it seemed - my mind tended to wander when my body had nothing to fiddle with), I continued looking for the snake. Having no obvious hint about where to search, I looked in the direction it had blown, and saw the faintest rustle near the bottom of a bush. At first, I thought that it was caused by the sudden gust, but it had already stopped, and had been blowing quite high up, while the rustling was definitely coming from lower down.

Despite my efforts, I still wondered why the wins had blown like that, in that direction, because I had a feeling that it wasn't just luck - or even Zaida's luck for that matter - and if there was anything I had learnt, it was to trust my instincts.

My eyes narrowing, I drew my bow, walking towards the bush as quietly as I could. Zaida seemed to notice what I was doing and gave me a puzzled look, so I pointed at the bush and mimed 'monster' the best I could - which to be honest wasn't saying much at all, because my miming skills... well, they weren't the best. But she seemed to understand, and watched them bush closely.

The monster rushed out of the bush, giving me a jump-scare, which just so happened to make me jump right as it was about to bash into me. Recovering from the shock, I righted my bow at the snake, which tried to dart away but was met with Zaida, who had picked up a twig from one of the bushes and was pointing it at the snake. The twig was actually really thin, and it (or Zaida) didn't really scare me at all, but it seemed to intimidate the snake.

...but why wasn't the snake-monster just charging into her? That was when I saw it tensing, and looking at Zaida.

'Zaida!' I warned her. 'You know what you said about not wanting to repeat that experience again either?'

'Yeah,'

'Well...' I trailed off and looked pointedly at the snake it front of her. Luckily, Zaida knew what I meant, and ran towards the side just as the monster started charging at full speed. Unluckily, the snake was really flexible and just kept chasing Zaida. Thinking quickly, she ran towards a 'DO NOT ENTER sign on the other side of the Greyhound stop. The sign was there because of a large hole in the pavement. Zaida ducked under the sign, and leapt over the hole. The snake monster, which had its eyes on her and not the floor, did not have the luxury of reading signs or being able to jump over holes, and fell in.

Panting, Zaida looked into the hole to check if the snake monster really was stuck, which it was. Then she waved her twig at it. I had to resist the urge to face palm. I walked up to her.

'Ok, so it's trapped.' Zaida said.

'Thanks for trapping it,' I told her.

'You're welcome. Anyway, now can you kill it or make it turn to dust or whatever?'

I looked into the hole, where the snake was already starting to slither up the sides.

'Well, I _could_...' I started, notching an arrow and pointing it at the monster.

'Then do it! It could slither out at any moment.'

I drew the arrow, and... I stopped. In my mind, I knew it was a monster which was ruthless and would keep trying to kill us, and it would just go to Tartarus, not die, and I'd killed/ vaporised plenty of monsters before without hesitation. However, right there, it just looked like an ordinary snake (plus horns), trapped, which I was just about to kill. It might've just been looking for food, and had stumbled upon two demigods, although I knew that was very unlikely. But I just couldn't bring myself to shoot the arrow.

'Avira..? What are you doing? Just kill it, already!'

 _It's a monster, and it wants to kill us_ , I repeated in my head, and readied the arrow.

However, my hesitation had made it so that the shot was too late. Just as I was about to release it, the snake - no not the snake, the monster - finally managed to get out of the hole, and charged at me, knocking me over. My arrow flew into the air, landing on a car roof.

As my feet touched the ground, a sharp pain shot through my right ankle.

'Ow, ow, ow,' I muttered as I tried to get up. My ankle was in a normal position, and I could still move it, so I didn't think it was broken, but it really hurt when I put weight on it.

'Avira, are you ok?' Zaida called out to me.

'Sort of...' I grimaced again as I tried to get up. 'Actually, no, not really. I think I've sprained my ankle. Quite badly.'

'See, this is why you should have just shot the arrow straight away,' Zaida walked over to me, exasperated, but she had concern written over her face, 'Will you hesitate _now_?' She asked as she helped me up.

'About that... I don't think I'm going to be able to fire a bow like this.' I admitted, balancing on one leg and leaning against a bush. 'I can't balance like this, so my shot would probably end up on the road, or in Dinah's window or something.' _Or_ _in_ _you_ , I thought, but I kept that thought silent.

Zaida gave me a concerned look. 'What are we going to do, then? I don't think I can fire a bow...' Then Zaida glanced down at the twig in her hand 'Or, I could use this!'

Suffice to say, Zaida's plan didn't go as well as she thought it would. For one, she wasn't exactly that stealthy, so the snake saw her coming and darted away. Secondly, and probably why the plan failed, was that the twig was _much too thin_. Why did that make the plan fail? Long story short, as soon as Zaida tried to hit the snake with the twig, the said object broke. In half. Which basically made it useless, especially since it wasn't that long in the first place.

'Umm...' Zaida said, looking glumly at the broken stick in her hand.

'Just try the bow.' I called.

'I can't fire one, though!'

'Just try it!'

'Fine. But don't blame me if I kill you or something.'

She ran towards me and I notched an arrow in my bow. Then I gave the bow and the arrow to her, and quickly showed her how to hold it and how to fire the arrow the best I could.

'So is it like this?' She asked me, pulling the arrow back.

'Sort of... just pull the hand that's holding the arrow a bit closer to your mouth.

'Like this?'

'Yeah, mostly. For now that will have to do.' I told her.

'Well, here goes nothing...' she mumbled, and fired the arrow. I hoped that it would hit its target.

Sadly, my hope was in vain. Instead of piercing (or grazing, or even touching) the snake, the arrow sailed up into the sky and eventually fell between the holes of a nearby drain.

'I'm really sorry...I'll just get a bigger twig from around here.' Zaida said, disheartened, not looking me in the eye.

'No, Zaida... it was fine. It might've happened because of my teaching skills...you just need to practice...' I told her, but she didn't seem to believe me. She gave me back the bow, and then ran off in embarrassment, trying to find a stick, though I couldn't see any nearby. I didn't think she could, either.

To be honest, I was quite embarrassed too - we'd defeated five eidolons, and now here we were, struggling against a small snake. I could only imagine what it would have been like if the wind hadn't given away the monster's hiding place.

Then an idea struck me. The wind. It seemed to be helping, and I was pretty sure it wasn't because of Zaida. It was too sudden for that, and besides, judging by the confused look Zaida had given me, she hadn't felt it. Which left two options. The first was that it was a coincidence, and the second...

I decided to test my theory. _Please_ _blow_ _stronger,_ _please_ _blow_ _stronger_ , I thought. Sure enough, I felt a sort-of tugging feeling, and a strong gust of wind blew right at my face. I decided to ask Zaida to fire an arrow again. If I could help guide the arrow, if I could just somehow give it a nudge in the right direction, then maybe the arrow would hit its mark.

'Zaida?' I called over to her.

'Wait, I think I can find a bigger stick around her somewhere. Please give me more time,'

'No, come here. A stick isn't needed.'

'Why? Do you have any other ideas?' She asked, jogging up to me.

'Actually, yes.' I told her. Zaida looked sceptical, 'Are you sure you're not just trying to make me feel better? Because it's not going to work, even if you get me doughnuts.'

'Zaida, trust me. This might work.' I said, and explained my plan.

Zaida still looked disbelieving. 'You know I can't fire a bow.'

'You've only ever fired one once in your life!'

'How well did that time go, though? Also, am I supposed to forget the use of might when you said that the plan might work?'

'Nothing's certain, but a plan is better than nothing at all!'

'Ok, fine, but am I suddenly supposed to believe that you just have some sort of wind powers?'

Zaida argued, getting more and more worked up. 'And of you do, why didn't you use them from the very beginning?'

'I just realised!' I protested weakly.

'And I'm supposed to _believe_ that?'

'Please, just trust me.'

'I haven't even known you for a day! Plus, it seems like the monsters started appearing after I saw you,' shouted Zaida, looking me in the eyes for the first time, and seeming to just realise the fact. 'How can I?'

'Because it's the only chance we have! Look, I know you're angry at the first time you shot the arrow, and I wouldn't blame you for being angry at me either, but you can either follow the plan and have a chance of staying alive, or be angry and dead!' Losing my temper with Zaida, I tried to stomp away, but I forgot about my sprained ankle, and, for the second time today, landed on the floor. 'Ow.'

'Fine, then.' Zaida told me, helping me up yet again. 'But I'm blaming you if it doesn't work.'

'I'll probably be _dead_ if it doesn't work. I can't really walk at the moment, let alone run. Do you really think the snake will just ignore a sitting target?'

'I'll still blame you. You being dead won't make a difference.' She motioned for me to hand her the bow. I did as she asked, and gave her an arrow too.

'Now try to remember what I said about firing it.'

'Ok,' agreed Zaida, a determined look on her face. She got ready, and fired the arrow. When Zaida had fried the arrow, the bow was pointing a bit too far to the left, and a little too low. _Push_ _the_ _arrow_ _right_ , I thought, and I felt that tugging feeling again as a strong wind blew into the arrow, forcing it to change course moments before it hit its target. The hight turned out not to be a problem, since the snake was charging full speed at us, and rammed straight into the arrow. If anything, this made the landing position of the arrow a bit too far back, so instead of hitting the monster's eye or heart, it hit the tail, pinning the snake monster to the ground.

Zaida turned around and looked at me, an ecstatic look on her face.

'You did it!'

' _We_ did it,' I corrected. 'It was a team effort. Besides, you were the one who fired the bow.'

Zaida seemed to consider that, and then ran towards the monster. I hopped after her. When I got to the snake, I leaned against a bush so I wouldn't lose my balance in the near future. I looked at the snake monster, which seemed to already be starting to disintegrate, but right before it completely turned to dust, it made a shriek so high I could hardly hear it. The shriek seemed to carry on even after the snake monster had gone to Tartarus.

'What _was_ that?' I asked.

'It was calling for reinforcements,' said a voice coming from the shadows of a nearby lamppost.

I was instantly alert (running from monsters for two weeks straight does that to you), but Zaida completely ruined my state of mind by asking, 'Who are you?' In a curious, yet disapproving, way.

'Well, apparently you called for a satyr, so here I am,' said the satyr, stepping into the light.

'Ok, just _how_ long have you been standing there?' I asked the satyr, still slightly suspicious.

'Since... since you two made the snake fall into the whole,' He admitted, slightly embarrassed.

'And it didn't once occur to you to _help_ us? Even when you're carrying a wooden club?' I questioned, noticed the tree club the satyr was carrying.

'Sorry...' the satyr mumbled, a bit ashamed.

'It's fine, but next time, please consider that the demigods you're supposed to be taking to Camp might not even be able to start their way there if you don't step in, or even give them the club or something.' I told him. Then, feeling sorry for the satyr, I added, 'I'm sorry, too.'

'So... what's your name?' Zaida asked the satyr, changing the topic.

'Terran. Terran Coppice.' Terran replied, glad at the sudden change in subject.

'...Isn't that a type of forest or something?'

'No, it's actually an area of woodland where trees are-'

'Ok, fine. It's whatever you were going to say. But why is that your surname?'

'Satyrs' surnames are usually nouns to do with plants.' Terran explained half-heartedly.

'Is that why Grover's surname was Underwood?' I asked.

'Yeah, it- wait, how do you know about Grover?'

'The books!' I exclaimed happily, taking _The_ _Lightning_ _Thief_ out of my bag and waving it around to show I wasn't lying (and also because I couldn't resist it). Terran still looked confused, so I explained, 'Basically, there's this book series that follows Percy's adventures, and Grover's a main character...'

The satyr's eyes widened. 'You know about Percy, too?'

'Who doesn't?' I replied.

'I don't, and every non-demigod, non-god and non-monster who hasn't read your oh-so-special book series hasn't either,' Zaida pointed out.

'The proper term for non-demigods, non-monsters and non-gods is mortals, but good point, I guess. Even so, that doesn't mean that they _shouldn't_ read it.' I turned to Terran. 'Apart from the things Zaida said, who doesn't know about Percy?'

'Anyway, am I going to lead you to Camp or not?' Asked Terran, a bit impatiently, looking at the ground.

'Yeah, we'd better go,' Zaida said.

'Definitely,' I replied, positively buzzing with excitement about meeting some of my favourite book characters.

'Then can we please start going? The more you stay out here, the more monsters you attract. Also, I'm pretty sure that the monster was calling for reinforcements.'

'...Good point.' Zaida realised, and started running after Terran, who was walking (do you even say that satyrs walk? Since they have goat legs, wouldn't they trot instead?) briskly towards Camp Half-Blood.

'Please can your you wait for me? I sprained my ankle,' I called, hoping as fast as I could (which wasn't very fast).

'I have some nectar and ambrosia with me, if you'd like. They were necessary precautions.' Offered Terran.

'Would that be ok? Thanks.'

'One square only, though. Too much could burn you up.'

'Ok,' I replied happily, even if it mentioned that repeatedly in the books.

* * *

Half an hour later, we were safely on our way to Camp Half-Blood. We'd seen no more monsters so far, which I was thankful for, though I was careful not to say that fact aloud - it could jinx us, badly. The nectar and ambrosia had made my ankle better for the time being, though apparently it still needed to be rested from time to time. However, there was no need to stop because of it in the immediate future, and it wasn't hindering us at the moment.

'So, what's this camp like?' Zaida asked Terran, trying to make conversation.

'Well, it's fun, and it's interesting... you get put into different cabins according to your godly parent, so you're usually not lonely,' _Unless you're a child of a god that wouldn't usually have demigod children, like Percy,_ I thought.

'You can also do activities, like archery, sword fighting, foot racing, canoeing and statue making, and there are pegasi you can ride on-'

'Yeah, I know that. Apparently I have a pegasus doughnut loving rival.' Zaida interrupted.

Terran paused in his explanation. 'Really?' He asked.

incredulously.

'Yes, apparently. Which means I can't take all the doughnuts.' Explained Zaida, giving me an even an look.

'Hey, it's not my fault that there's a doughnut loving pegasus living at Camp Half-Blood.' I defended.

'Oh, and every Friday you play Capture the Flag.' Terran finished.

'What's _Capture_ _the_ _Flag_? Because it sounds as if there's a living flag, or someone called 'The Flag', and you need to... I don't know, kidnap them or something.' Zaida asked. I could only stare at her. 'Well, it does! It's supposed to be a camp for demigods, how am I supposed to know how they spend their spare time.'

'You know, I've never thought about it that way before.' I told her, and judging by Terran's slightly shocked look, neither had he.

'It's basically a game where there's a flag that's definitely not living, and you have to bring it to your team's side of the boundary.' He explained.

'Oh. I've got to admit, that makes a _lot_ more sense.' Zaida said, embarrassed. 'Anyway, how does the camp look? Because if I'm going to stay at a summer camp for hyperactive people with weird powers, I want to make sure there's something normal, or at least not overly strange, about it.'

'Well, I'm not sure if you'd call the looks of it _normal_ \- the cabins you stay in have nearly no similarity at all to each other, and most of the buildings are styled like the buildings in Ancient Greece, but overall, it looks...' Terran trailed of, and it was at that moment I realised that we were climbing a hill, with a large pine tree at its top. I nearly jumped in excitement.

'You know what? I'll explain when we reached the top of this hill.' He decided.

'Why?' Zaida asked.

'You'll see why,' I replied.

Zaida sighed in defeat. 'Fine.' She replied.

'Then come on, come on, come on!' At that moment, I just couldn't stop my inner fan from awakening, and I ran to the top of of the hill. 'Come on!' I added one last time.

Under Thalia's pine tree, I saw Terran smirking in amusement. I shot him a death glare; it wasn't every day that a Percy Jackson fan got the chance to go to, or even see, the real Camp Half-Blood. The satyr quickly wiped the smirk off his face.

'What's the big deal?' Zaida asked as the reached the top. 'And the big hurry?'

'This.' I replied.

There it was, spreading out in the valley below us. A selection of Greek-styled buildings, along with some crazy looking cabins, glinting in the light from the moon, which had only just risen. A place which I had thought for so long only existed in stories. Camp Half-Blood.

And I was - no, we were - about to attend it.

* * *

 **A.N. So, there you have it! In case you're wondering what that snake-monster was, it does actually exist in Greek Mythology, and I'll explain what it is in a later chapter.**

 **I'd like to remind you that this is a 'Guess the parent!' chapter for Avira (clue: it's not Zeus). You still up for the challenge? Also, with the last sentence, I know 'and' shouldn't really be used at the start of a sentence, but I couldn't think lf anything else to put. If you have any ideas, tell me by writing something in that little review box down at the bottom of the chapter and then pressing 'submit'. As always, critical reviews are welcomed (though others are fine too)!**

 **Until next chapter,**

 **SylviaNightshade**


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